Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
And accepting of what I’m learning are quirks Farren proudly embraces. “Rafferty will tell you I’m impulsive, flighty and prone to jumping feet first into trouble. But he’d lay his life down for me in the defense of one of my idiotic adventures.”
“Your family sounds so much like mine, in that you’re all super close and supportive of each other.”
“Which is something that is important to both you and Rafferty. It’s a value you both share. A match made in heaven.”
I don’t know about that, though I’m willing to poke around. But we’ve been talking about me enough. “So, tell me more about you. What exactly brought you to Pittsburgh?” I ask, shifting the focus from my tangled emotions.
She shrugs. “Got bored with my job. My boyfriend was an asshole. It was time for a change.”
“What are your plans? Will you stay here for a while?”
Farren smiles, circling her finger around the lip of the bottle. “I think so. Rafferty says I have to get a job and pay him rent, and well…” She waves her hand at the bar where the urbanites are paying for fancy drinks. “I could make good tips in a place like this. It’ll do.”
I find it odd that Farren isn’t the ambitious type. I know she’s brilliant as Rafferty was bragging about her at the reception last night, calling her a genius, and I don’t think he was being tongue in cheek. But this isn’t something I want to press her on. I don’t want her to think I don’t respect her.
She cranes her neck, checks out the two men at the end of the bar. They’re no longer staring at us but looking a few tables over at some women. She sighs, lifts her bottle to her lips. “Why are men so complicated?”
I think about Rafferty, and putting the issues of Tansy aside, he’s one of the least complicated men I know. “We still talking about your ex-boyfriend, the asshole?” I ask.
Farren looks over at me. “I’m talking about all men. Except my brother, of course, who is the best person ever. But I’ve always been unlucky in love, so I think I’m just going to try something else.”
“Like what?”
“I think I need to play the field. Quit looking for forever and be happy with just right now.”
I lift my beer and salute her. “There’s great merit in being that way as a woman. There’s always been a double standard that men can play the field but women can’t. So, I say go sow your wild oats.”
“Really?” She cocks an eyebrow in skepticism.
“Really,” I assure her. “Why shouldn’t you be able to do that?”
Farren considers it and then grins. “I am rather reckless and impulsive. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to, say”—she looks over at those men—“hook up with that blond dude. He’s quite good-looking.”
I wrinkle my nose. “He’s very handsome, but ugh… the mansplaining.”
Snickering, Farren bobs her head. “Yeah… that would drive me nuts. Maybe I’ll just burn through the single Titans.”
I had been taking a swallow of my beer and it ends up shooting out my nostrils I laugh so hard. I grab napkins and wipe my nose and table as Farren doubles over with laughter.
“Are you serious?” I gasp, still feeling the fizz in my nasal cavity.
“Maybe,” she says slyly. “I mean… that’s a whole lot of muscles for the taking.”
“Your brother would flip,” I say in warning, but I’m still chuckling.
Farren sobers, pursing her lips. “He’d totally be the type who would put them off-limits to me.”
“Yes, he is that type,” I say assuredly.
“But,” she says with an evil glint in her eyes, “what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Stop it,” I say, giving her a dismissive wave. “You’re just asking for trouble.”
“Yeah,” she says glumly, drumming her fingers on the table. “Probably not a good idea. Like, if you weren’t dating Rafferty—”
“But am I? Am I really dating him?” I interject.
“I say you are,” she says, holding a palm out to me to keep quiet. “But if you weren’t dating him, what would your dream guy look like? I’m not talking just looks but what things do you want in a man?”
I have to think about that for a bit because it’s not a question I’ve ever put too much thought into before. Only after I list a handful of qualifications do I realize I’m describing Rafferty. I’m not sure if Farren picks up on that, but if she does, she keeps it to herself.
We dive down the rabbit hole of men, keeping our eyes on the game and breaking our conversation when something exciting happens. Our chat meanders from the men back to us, to what it means to find a place where we fit, whether in someone’s life or in a new city. As the game winds down and the Titans secure a win, I feel a kinship with Farren that goes beyond our connection through Rafferty. She’s a friend, someone who just gets it, and I look forward to strengthening that bond as well.