Page 51 of Error Handling

Cassie squints at me. “And then you kissed him? Or he kissed you?”

“I had water gushing out of my house,” I repeat.

“Yeah,” Cassie says, “I was going to ask you about that. But first I want to hear about the kiss. You kissed someone. That’s like headline news.”

“He kissed me. But I think he just did it because he was trying to make Chris jealous.”

“Chris who?”

“Mistaken identity Chris. I told you he’s a handyman, right? Well, handyman Chris showed up at my house after I put in an emergency call to At Your Service.”

Cassie rests her elbows on the desk and threads her fingers through her thick hair. “I’m confused. You’re telling me, ChristopherandChris were in your house at the same time?”

“Yeah, it was an interesting evening.”

“And Christopher kissed you to make Chris jealous?”

“I think so.”

Cassie’s jaw almost hits the floor again, but this time out of delight. “You mean, I created a love triangle?”

I scratch my chin. “You know, now that I think about it, this is mostly your fault.”

“What happened when he kissed you? Did you feel...grossed out?”

I duck my head to hide my smile.

“How did it feel?” Cassie asks.

“This is embarrassing.”

“No reason to be embarrassed,” Cassie says, her southern drawl thickening from excitement. “Do you like Christopher?”

“Christopher is nice. And clean. And cute.”

Cassie’s smile stretches ear to ear. She jumps up and dances in place, “I knew it, I knew it,” she chants.

“You did well,” I admit.

“You like Christopher.” Cassie plops back into her chair. “You like him, and youfeltsomething when he kissed you.”

I fight to suppress my blush, but it doesn’t work.

“You did! You can’t hide it. See? I knew you weren’t broken. You just needed the right man.”

I can’t argue with Cassie, but are my feelings for Christopher because he’s the right man, or are they residual feelings from my encounters with Chris?

“It’s not that simple,” I say.

“Don’t overthink it.”

“No. I mean. There are feelings. And then there arefeelings. And I seem to be having the latter for handyman Chris.”

Cassie gasps. “It is a love triangle!”

“Christopher is funny. He makes me laugh. And he’s cute. But Chris...”

“Chris renders you speechless, like a silly starry-eyed schoolgirl.”