The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            Hallie: Whatcha doin?

            He dropped his key card, stepped out of his shoes, and fell back onto the bed.

            Jack: Just got back.

            Hallie: That was a long dinner. Did you meet someone?

            Jack: The only person I met was the bartender who took my order.

            Hallie: That sounds lonely.

            Her text made him feel a little lonely. He texted: The whole night was weird. I don’t really want to get into it, but let’s just say I used to love this place because my uncle was here, and now he’s not, so it feels like shit.

            His phone started ringing, and it did something to his chest when he saw her name on the display. He answered with, “Piper. I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

            “I know,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “Which is why I’m calling. I thought I’d tell you about my night.”

            “Lay it on me.” He got up and walked over to his suitcase. “Tell me everything.”

            “Okay. So.” She cleared her throat, and he heard her cat meow in the background. “Alex picked me up and took me to the restaurant. It was nice, the wine was good, and then he ordered a vegan cheese ball as an appetizer and wanted me to try it.”

            “Is he vegan?”

            “No, he’s just had it before and it’s really good.”

            “You didn’t try it, did you?” There was no way that picky Hallie had tried a vegan cheese ball.

            “He really wanted me to take a bite, so I did. I took the teeniest, tiniest little bite.”

            “And . . . ?” He pulled his shirt over his head and reached for the button on his jeans. “How was it?”

            “I don’t know, because about thirty seconds after I tried it, my throat got scratchy. Then my cheeks got red and my neck got blotchy.”

            “You’re allergic?” Jack stopped undressing. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m okay now.” She sounded tired. “But I learned tonight that I’m violently allergic to cashews, which were apparently a core ingredient in the vegan cheese.”

            “Holy shit.” He shucked off his jeans, dropped them into his suitcase, and went back over to the bed. “What happened? You sure you’re okay?”

            “Alex had to take me to the ER, and I’m pretty sure he heard me puking my guts out into a barf cone as I waited for the doctor.”

            “Holy shit,” he said, wishing he’d been there to help her. “Also, what is a barf cone?”

            “The nurse handed me this thing that was like a cardboard circle with a long, latex reservoir attached—barf cone. Vomit condom.”

            He started laughing, in spite of his foul mood and the fact that she’d had a health scare. “I’m so sorry you had to use the retch receptacle.”

            “It’s okay . . . that I went HAM on the puke pocket.”

            “I would’ve held your hair,” he said, still laughing. “If I’d been there.”

            “Well, I would’ve eaten with you so you weren’t lonely, if I’d been there,” Hallie said, and her words did something to him. For fuck’s sake, she did something to him.

            He cleared his throat and said, “So how’s the cat?”

            “Jack, he’s amazing. How is it that I lived my entire life without him, but now, just like that, I can’t even remember the before? Does that sound crazy, to be attached that fast?”

            “No,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “It doesn’t sound crazy at all.”





Chapter

FOURTEEN



Hallie


            She watched through the window as Alex pulled up in front of Starbucks. They were grabbing a quick post-work coffee, and even though she was happy to see him, she’d kind of been in a fog of missing Jack all day.