Sincerely, Vantae

375 DEGREES

I slept late the next day. All day.

I even called in sick to my part time job at the marina, and let my manager berate me for the umpteenth time. (Something about if I was ever late again or called in sick one more day I would be fired. I didn't care about the fired part, it was more about losing my boat access pass that I sometimes needed to use when the chefs held classes on Parker Island; private boat fares weren't cheap.)

When I'd finally found the motivation to drag myself up, it was six o'clock and I figured I should start getting ready for a night with roseanne. I went downstairs to see what she'd dropped off earlier and found myself standing in a sea of plastic bags—bags full of all types of junk food: Cheetos, chocolate bars, twenty different types of fruity candy, and lots of vodka and beer.

It was just like roseanne to literally drop something off without thinking about putting it away. By the time I finished stuffing everything into the pantry, it was seven o'clock and she'd sent me a text:

Soooo don't kill me for this, but I have to cancel on you tonight! I have a really, really good reason though! It has an eight pack and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, I promise!

WHAT THE HELL?

Holding back a frustrated scream, I typed a text:

This is the tenth-plus time you've stood me up for a fucking guy, roseanne. A non-boyfriend guy at that and I'm beyond tired of it! You have no idea what it means to be a good friend, so the second you decide that you want to be one, let me know.

My finger hovered over the send button, but I didn't press it.

She wasn't worth it anymore.

I grabbed some of the snacks she'd bought and headed upstairs to my room.

I flipped through a few cooking channels and settled on a chef that was making a specialty crème brûlée. I changed into a different set of pajamas and got into bed, grabbing my binder to take notes.

As the chef was testing the custard's temperature, my phone vibrated. vantae.

My mind immediately pictured him kissing my lips and holding my body taut against him, so I knew I didn't need to talk to him right now.

I hit ignore.

He called again.

I hit ignore again.

He sent me a text:

Are you hitting ignore because you don't want to admit that I was right about roseanne?

You were wrong about her actually. We're at my place taking shots and eating pizza. I'll call you later.

I'm looking at her right now, so unless you've grown a beard and a mustache within the past six hours, I take it that she did, in fact, bail on you?

Unfortunately...The guy she's with has a beard and a mustache?

Yes. He also looks like he's at least ten to twelve years older than her.

You're kidding.

Not at all. What are you really doing?

Moping about what pitiful friends I have. (You included.) You?

Getting ready to head home. I was trying to help wooshik find a "just friend" friend at the bar tonight.

Did it work?

No. He decided to go for the one night stand option instead. You want some company?

Not really...