I know what you’re thinking. And you’re right.
I shouldn’t want two guys.
I’m turning into my best friend Candy! The one I advised strongly against going after two men. I remember explaining to her that one man is hard work, let alone two.
But she went ahead and snagged them both with a bow on top. And they are happy. All three of them.
It’s her fault I’m confused. Before that, I’d never entertained the notion of wanting two guys at the same time.
It’s ridiculous. I know everything there is to know about Ryan.
I know nothing about Riddick.
That’s easy to fix. Much easier than it was with Ryan. I can just march up to Jethro, who is Riddick’s cousin and one of Candy’s beaus, and interrogate him.
Beats the sacrifices I made to gather intel on Ryan. I mean, I had to bring my famed cookies to one of our secretaries at work to make her sing.
She had to leave work afterward because of stomach problems. That was quite strange. Also, she won’t speak to me.
Some people…
Anyway. I can’t stop thinking about Riddick. And that interferes with my thoughts about Ryan. Unacceptable. How am I going to focus on my objective when I find myself wishing Riddick had asked me out?
And God, that sounds like I’m still in high school, like he didn’t ask me to the prom or something, but I wish he’d made a move on me. He’d had interest in his eyes when we first met.
Then I told him about Ryan, and okay, why would he show any interest after that, right? I killed that bud before it bloomed.
Or whatever.
So I should stop thinking about him. I wish I could. The thing is… he’s not just handsome. Because he totally is. Gorgeous. Totally swoonworthy.
He’s in pain. And people in pain have a pull on me. I want to take away their pain, take care of them.
Not everyone, of course, or I would do nothing else all day. But the combination of his hawtness and the sorrow in his eyes just about killed me last time we met. His mother was in the hospital. And he seemed so broken over it.
You’ll ask, then what about Ryan? He’s not in any pain. How come you fell for him?
I didn’t fall for him. I chose him. Big difference, see?
With Riddick, I have no choice.
***
“What’s that smell?” Simone asks as we enter the gym. She sniffs at me. “Oh my God, it’s you?”
“Is it good?”
“Are you kidding me?”
I sniff at my arm. “My mom said that when you cook you smell delicious afterward, attracting men.”
“Maybe she wasn’t speaking of cooking garlic sauce,” Simone mutters and hurries into the locker rooms, presumably to escape from the smell.
I sniff my arm again. Surely she’s not talking of my new Male Attraction Elixir? Its results are guaranteed. The lady at the little corner store told me a whole tear-filled story of how a distant cousin of hers got her husband like that.
Could it be because she knocked him out with the smell first? She never gave me the details. I should have pressed her for more info.
But I had a moment of weakness. Of despair. I ran into Ryan a few times at work these past few days and ignored him with all my might—and made sure he knew it—but he showed no signs of recognition.