His Curvy Beauty by Lana Love

Chapter 5

Sonia

My hand flails around to find my cell phone and turn off the alarm that’s shrieking like the end of the world has arrived.

Squinting at the bright sunshine coming through my window, I curse myself for agreeing to meet Harriet for brunch today. My head throbs as I wonder how many drinks Harriet gave me. I smile as memories of last night come back to me, and then I freeze.

Boyd.

Boyd showed up…and I kissed him! Or was it him that kissed me? And then he stayed until we shut down the bar.

A rush of memories pieces together through my hangover. I fall back into bed, drowning in a confusing mix of elation and sadness. The more I wake up, I remember how Annabelle was being her typical Mean Girl self, but then Boyd appeared out of nowhere, then pretended to be my boyfriend. The look on Annabelle’s face when he said that was almost as satisfying as the kiss he gave me.

My toes curl as I remember the kiss. Kisses. Multiple. Oh my God. They weren’t just drunken kisses. I mean, I was definitely drunk, but…there was more to it. Boyd showed up and stayed until we all closed Roscoe’s down. It didn’t seem like he was acting and it sure felt like he felt something, but…that can’t be right. How much did I drink last night?

“Girl,I had to break the two of you up last night because you two were going to set Roscoe’s on fire with that kiss of yours! I needed a cigarette after watching that!”

“Oh, God. Did everyone see?”

It’s impossible to deny how long I’ve wanted to kiss Boyd and how perfect it was, but now it’s over and of course it’s never going to happen again, but now everyone saw the kiss and there will be questions. What’s more, he never left my side the rest of the night. He doted on me, like he really was my boyfriend. Like, what was that? Is Boyd my boyfriend? But that doesn’t make sense! When I ran into a bad situation and really needed someone by my side, Boyd showed up.

What’s more, he stuck around. He could have bailed, but he didn’t.

If he’s not my boyfriend, what is he? The teasing my friends will give me when they find out that he is, in fact, my boss will be relentless.

“Sonia, sweetie, it was impossible to miss that kiss. Seriously, though. That was your boss?”

Harriet spears her pancakes and drags them through syrup, her eyes barely leaving my face.

“Yeah. I mean, yeah, that’s Boyd. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I show up on Monday. For all I know, he was drunk and now I don’t have a job.” But I don’t think he was drunk. He had his normal quiet, laser focus about him. He pretended to be my boyfriend, but…it felt so fucking real.

I gulp my orange juice, wishing I’d ordered a Bloody Mary, instead. It’s hard to drown out the negative self-talk. By all accounts, I should be thrilled about the kiss and what it might mean, but of course I can’t get past the feeling that good things like that don’t happen to curvy girls like me.

“Sonia, stop it right now.”

“What?”

“I see that look in your eyes. You’re assuming that kiss didn’t mean anything.”

“How could it? I can’t even believe he was there in the first place.”

“Why are you so surprised?” Harriet sighs and gives me the look that says she thinks I’m a fool. But how can I be so wrong about Boyd, when every other time I thought I was right about another guy and then had everything dissolve? “From the sounds of it, you’ve been flirting with him and coming on strong—”

“Well, maybe not strong,” I interrupt, though my cheeks burn when I think back and realize I was pretty brazen when I invited him to my party.

“Girl, you have to accept that there are times when you’ll get the guy!”

I laugh so hard that I’m worried that my drink is going to come out my nose. I mean, sure, I’ll be married someday. I think, anyway. Harriet keeps trying to push me out of my comfort zone, which was how I even invited Boyd in the first place. But…

“Yeah, we’ll see.” I look around the café and motion for the waiter to come over and bring our check. “In the meantime, I need get home and study. I have a midterm next week.”

For most of the weekend,I successfully lose myself in studying for my midterms. Harriet makes fun of me for it, but I truly love accounting. There’s no ambiguity to it – you record numbers, and then make sure they balance. It’s precise.

Now that I’m taking a break from studying, I can’t get Friday night and Boyd out of my head. Is Harriet right? I want to believe she is, but I like Boyd so much that I’m scared to. I pace around my apartment, wondering if I even still have a job at the garage.

Would Boyd have stayed until the end of the night, if he didn’t want me too? The more I think back on what happened between us, the more I realize it was more than a pity kiss. Him staying was so far from being pity attention. There was a connection between us and it made me think that he wants me as much as I want him.

Get it together, Sonia.I stand in front of my closet, choosing what I’ll wear when I see him tomorrow. I want to look good. Looking good is as much for me as it is for him, because I want to feel confident when I find out if my luck with men has finally changed.