when salem got home, she screamed tavia's name. the latter jolted awake from her nap on the couch.
"what?" she asked drowsily.
salem plopped herself down on the armrest of the couch.
"i'm going on a date on friday." salem sang.
this was enough to fully rouse tavia from her sleepiness.
"with who?!"
"ciarán!"
tavia squealed, "i fucking knew it!"
salem laid down, staring up at the ceiling.
"god, there's something about him. i just can't get enough of him."
"sae," although it was weird, 'sae' was salem's nickname. "maybe you should slow down with ciarán. how many times have y'all kissed? include kisses on the cheeks too."
"five." salem said shyly.
"five?! when was the fifth one?" tavia asked in shock. sure, she wanted salem and ciarán to get together, but they've kissed each other five times? in less than a week?!
"so, lemme begin with how my day unfolded thanks to you."
"thanks to me? what did i do?" tavia asked cluelessly.
"ciarán told me that you told him where i worked!"
tavia's cheeks grew hot, "okay yeah, i did tell him, but it was for your benefit! he wanted to surprise you, and i thought it would be harmless."
salem rolled her eyes, "well, when he came through those doors, i was think 'oh hell nah' and my first instinct was to hide, but i didn't."
tavia chuckled, "woo! go salem!"
salem glared at her before continuing her story, "so, he started flirting with me, and i told him
to stop or else i'd get fired. his slickass said 'how 'bout we flirt over text instead?' and i ended up giving him my number. it ended up raining and i offered to take him home since he had taken an uber to the shop."
"aw, how sweet of you."
"i was returning a favor, since he did me a big one on saturday. i told him that i actually didn't wanna see him because i knew i was falling for him, and i didn't want him to leave my life. he kissed me and asked if i wanted to go on a date so he could prove himself."
tavia frowned, pulling salem's arms so she would sit up. she wrapped her arms around her, "i'm sorry, i didn't know you didn't want to see him."
salem smiled, "it's all good now because i'm going on a date with him on friday. i'll get to see if i'm ready to open up and let him be in my life."
"listen, i just don't wanna see you hurt. you just got out of a relationship with ryan, and it may not seem like it, but it's had an impact on you. don't rush into things so soon." tavia advised.
"thanks for the input, i love you, tav." salem was truly grateful to have tavia in her life. she needed someone with a different perspective to give her guidance.
"i just don't wanna see you hurt."
out of nowhere, salem's phone sounded with a 'ding.'
she checked it, seeing it was an unknown number.
unknown number: hey it's ciarán
"who is it?" tavia asked, peeking down at the phone.
salem smiled down at her phone as she made a new contact for him. "it's cici!"
salem 🖤: hiiii cici :))
cici 🔫: what did u just call me.
salem 🖤: that's ur contact name. followed by a watergun emoji
cici 🔫: why is that my contact name?
salem 🖤: 1. bc i like ur nickname and 2. u laugh like a watergun
cici 🔫: number : blocked
salem 🖤: hotel : trivago
salem 🖤: don't do it tho :( you just got my #
salem 🖤: cici come backkkk
salem 🖤: i was joking
salem 🖤: i just think cici and the watergun emoji are cute
cici 🔫: you're cuter tho ;)
cici 🔫: and nah you're just saying that so my feelings don't get hurt
salem 🖤: i would never wanna hurt ur feelings </3
salem 🖤: omg when u said "how about we flirt over text instead?" u rlly meant it huh
a/n:
school is draining tf outta me but wowowowow this book is doing better than i thought
