Page 42 of Meet Cute Reboot

“Pretty much.”

Mom anchors her elbows on the table and rests her forehead against her palms.

She utters a loud groan. “Nooooo.”

“It’s not that bad. She knows you weren’t in your right mind.”

“I told her she was the one. I told her you think she’s the one!” Mom looks up and gapes at me.

“Yes, you did say that.”

“What else did I say?”

“You said I get drunk and sulk about Cassie in my free time.”

Her jaw drops again.

“You implied that I’ve won her back. Which I have not. I’m not done trying but you might have thrown a wrench in things. Oh. And you smelled her hair and told her she smells like lavender. You also said something about green eggs and spam.”

“It tickles.”

“Yup.”

“Luke, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Vodka.”

Mom groans again. “Did I ruin it between you two?”

I swallow the last part of my sandwich and lean back. Sunlight filters through the window to my left, lighting the tabletop and Mom’s salt and pepper hair. “I don’t know yet.”

“If you’re not back together, why was she here?”

“It’s complicated.”

“How so?”

I tell mom about our livestreamed blind date that ended with her telling me off, riding to I107 like Miss Gulch inThe Wizard of Oz, the radio segment that actually went pretty decent, Cassie’s bright idea to livestream our second date so she could get out of having a real conversation with me.

Mom looks horrified. “Was I live on Instagram?”

“No. I swiped the phone out of her hand and shut off the stream.”

“Thank God.” Mom crumples onto the table again.

“I asked her to the neighborhood meeting Thursday, though, so all might not be lost. I’m waiting to hear back.”

“Why would she want to come to our neighborhood meeting?” Mom says in a muffled voice.

“I asked her if she’d like to expand her tour business to Benton Street.”

Mom peeks from behind her forearm and raises an eyebrow at me. “You’re having to jump through all these hoops. I don’t think she’s interested in you, Luke. Maybe it’s time to give up on her.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To save yourself grief.”

“She’s into me. She just doesn’t want to admit it.”