Happenstance Read Online Tessa Bailey

Categories Genre: Contemporary, Romance Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
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* * *

Me: I’m here for therapy. Attempting to believe I’m someone worth knowing.

* * *

Sending that message makes me feel winded and shaky. I feel exposed as I step onto the tram, locking and unlocking my phone, willing her to send me some manner of response, just to put me out of my misery. Her messages come through just as I’m reaching the other side of the river.

* * *

E: Ughhh. You’re worthy of knowing.

E: And obviously dick punches. Bye.

* * *

I think today might be the best day of my life.

Chapter Eight

What does one wear on a date with three men? Red seems like the obvious choice. Too obvious? Perhaps leather? Oddly enough, I’m not feeling a lot of pressure about my wardrobe considering they almost fought each other over me while I was wearing an apron.

Realizing I’m smiling kind of stupidly into space, I jam a hand into the crowded dress section of my closet, vowing to wear the first garment I pull out. Sputtering out a drum roll, I open my eyes to find I’m holding a pink dress. An A-line fit and flare with a heavy skirt and a low neckline, purchased years ago at Marshall’s and never worn in public. It’s flirty. Sweet. No one will suspect that I’m the main attraction of a three-ring—er, man—circus.

Maybe I’ll come to my senses after one drink.

Said no one ever.

I still can’t believe this is happening. That I’m doing this.

That I…want to.

Temporarily.

Holding the dress against my chest, I sit down on the edge of the bed and replay yesterday afternoon in the kitchen of the Times, especially the part where they closed in on me, claiming they wanted to give me the “maximum amount of pleasure” even if it meant sharing, which none of them obviously prefer. What would it be like if they all actually got on the same page about that and followed through? What if the three of them could really operate as one entity of…giving?

Pleasure from men is not something I actively seek out. I can do it myself, thank you very much. It’s specifically these three men. The combination of their energy, their unique effects on me, that has my fingers curling into the satin material of the dress, a flush creeping up the sides of my face. Maybe I should release a little tension before I meet them tonight so my brain is capable of making objective decisions?

I’m already breathing fast and setting aside the dress on my bed…when my apartment buzzer goes off. “Huh?”

When I walk out of my bedroom, my roommate, Shayna, is standing in flannel pants and a Tinkerbell T-shirt, eyeballing the speaker warily. We haven’t spent a lot of time together, at least not in a social sense, but she once left her laptop open to her dating profile and I couldn’t help but take a small peek. Activism and Disney is her subheading. Many times I’ve wanted to ask about her job as a non-profit spokesperson. Reminders of the past always hold me back. “Did you order food?” she asks now, pointing a single finger at the door.

“No,” I say. “Should we ignore it?”

It buzzes again.

We trade a shrug.

I approach the box on the wall and press the speaker button. “Yes?”

“Flowers.”

It’s possible I heard that wrong. This speaker was installed during Prohibition. Approximately. “Um…what?”

“Flower delivery.”

Okay. Heard him right. But unless my parents are sending me flowers, no one has this address. “You have the wrong apartment.”

“How do you know they’re not for me?” Shayna wants to know.

Wincing inwardly, I tap the speaker again. “Who are they for?”

A long-suffering groan fills the apartment. “Elise Brandeis.”

“Oh.” I rear back slightly, baffled. Then I shake myself and hold down the button to allow the delivery person into the building. Keeping the chain lock engaged, I pull open the apartment door slightly and watch the man approach with…not one, but two bouquets. My jacket is hanging on the peg beside the door, so I root around in my pocket for the change I received this morning for my bagel—it’s a few singles—and when he sets down the flowers in their vases on the hallway floor, I hand him the dollar bills through the slit in the door. “Thanks.”

“Yup,” he sighs, already heading back in the opposite direction.

Shayna laid down safety rules when I rented the room and they include never opening the door for strangers, and never buzzing anyone into the building without knowing who it is. When I order takeout, I give her a heads-up that someone will be coming to the door and she returns the favor. Apart from the odd, casual conversation, that’s really the extent of our relationship.

When I moved in last year, she asked me a few times if I wanted to join her and some colleagues on a night out, but I declined. I’m not great at maintaining friendships, even if she seems like someone I would have liked a lot in a past life.



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