“Oh,” he said, laughing through his nose. “I’m glad I meant so much to you, Stace.” He put his finger to his mouth. “At Anna’s party, I remember you telling me I was the love of your life.”
“We’d only just met! I’d had five Jager Bombs and a Bailey’s. It was right after I told my boss” husband that his comb over hairstyle was very distinguished. Just before telling my best friend that it was a travesty that Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again wasn’t nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Meaning, I wasn’t talking sense, for Christ’s sake!”
“Awful,” the woman said, still hanging around. “Killing off Meryl did it for me. I was out of that cinema before the first bars of ‘Waterloo.’”
“What are you doing!” Tim shouted at the woman who had taken an active interest, jumping up and down like he was having a child’s tantrum. “Go away!”
That was it.
Something, or someone, had saved me from a life of mediocre…again.
Perhaps it was voodoo or my Nana acting as a guardian angel?
Whatever it was, my time was up.
I was ready to walk away while I still had a shred of pride.
“Tim,” I said, placing my hands on his arms. “You need to reassess your values because…you don’t appear to have any.” I poked my head around him to the still scowling blonde. “It was nice to meet you, Penny. Sorry you got caught up in”—I flicked my finger between Tim and I—“all of this.”
“Wait. Where are you going?” she asked. “That Hamilton ticket has my name all over it. You can’t take back the offer now.”
“What?” Tim stuttered.
“Bye-bye, loser,” Penny said as she wiggled her fingers gracefully. She was manicured and badass.
“You’re not really going with her, are you?” he asked, his screwed-up face showing his distaste.
“I know this is totally random,” she said joining me at the bottom of the steps. “But I’ve been trying to get a ticket for weeks.”
“It is a bit random,” I agreed. “But I don’t like regrets, Penny, and I think I’d go home wishing I’d gone to see Hamilton with…a complete stranger.”
She laughed and linked her arm in mine, and I found myself smiling because, for a few hours, I could be taken away by laughter, mouth the lyrics to “Satisfied” like I could identify with every word and reenact it with feeling and after, I could eat away my frustration with noodles and gyoza. Yes, I didn’t know anything about this woman. We had a flimsy link at best. I hoped she wasn’t a serial killer or a weird stalker but decided anyway that I needed a distraction before re-joining the abyss of the dating game and wondering where the fudge I would start.
“That ticket is like gold dust. How much do I owe you?” Penny asked.
“Buy dinner and we’ll call it even.”
“Hold on a sec,” she said. “Tim?” He looked completely confused by us, his girlfriend and mistress, arm in arm and on their way to see the hottest show in town. “I forgot something.”
“What is it?” he asked, perching his hands on his hips.
“Hold on, let me look for it.” Penny rooted around in her pocket, looking for something. She tipped her head in frustration, sticking out her tongue in concentration, until she pulled out her hand dramatically, held it up, and proceeded to give him the middle finger. “Ah…there it is.”
It was at this point I realised Penny could absolutely be a serial killer or weird stalker, her behaviour indicated that she could be slightly un-hinged too, but she also seemed…pretty bloody cool.
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Also by Lynsey M. Stewart
The Music and Letters Series
When the decisions of her past affect the choices of the future, will Elle be able to find her happy ending?
Let Me Be Your First
One regrettable lie drove them down very different paths. One rash decision forced them apart.
Let Me Be Your Hope
When opposites attract, there’s bound to be fire.
Let Me Be Your Truth
Suspicion can drive you mad. But it can also prove you right.
Let Me Be Your Last
* * *
Stripped Bare
I couldn’t deny that seeing my ex-boyfriend jiggling his junk in the face of an ecstatic bride-to-be was a complete mind hump.
I didn’t normally get giddy over strippers, but this wasn’t any ordinary stripper. Ethan was my childhood friend, my teenage crush, the boy that featured in all of my firsts.
We had made a childhood pact. If we didn’t find the right person to lose our virginity to by the time we reached eighteen we would be each other’s first.
First kiss, first love…
First heartbreak.
We had been apart for three years.
I had forgotten how glorious he was. I watched him grind his hips to the music, creating a dance with the woman in front of him. But after the rip of Velcro, his thong thrown in my direction, his eyes finally focused…on me.
Who knew being whiplashed by a sequinned thong would lead to a moment of clarity? It was time to start questioning everything that happened between us until I was left feeling bare.
Stripped bare.
* * *
Sliding Home
I was flying high with the Florida Falcons until an injury completely changed my life. Playing baseball had been my dream since I was a kid and America couldn’t get enough of the Brit who’d made it to the big leagues. The game was my world, but suddenly I couldn't do it anymore. I was bored. I was frustrated. So I filled the void.
Sex was an easy answer for a pro ball player with an English accent, and soon my misdemeanours were splashed across the tabloids. Now I was a bad joke, a sleazy internet meme, a washed-up third-baseman who enjoyed playing with women more than playing the game.
I was given
