Smart Mouth: An Opposites Attract Romantic Comedy (Work For It Book 4) by Emma Lee Jayne

Author:Emma Lee Jayne [Jayne, Emma Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949202946
Publisher: Smartypants Romance
Published: 2022-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

GWEN

I have no idea what to wear on my date with Tom, because:

A) I don’t know where we’re going, and

B) My date shirt was ruined.

The good news is there aren’t many places in Austin that require more than jeans. And, thanks to last night’s laundry debacle, my second-best bra and matching panties are clean.

I don’t have any intention of stripping down to my bra and panties tonight, but I didn’t last night either and look how that turned out. The way my life is going now, I feel like it’s better to plan for anything.

As an added bonus, Tom is taller than me, so I can wear my favorite pair of lace-up, pseudo-Victorian boots. They have a slight heel—which is why my sister told me I couldn’t wear them last night, just in case Derek was shorter than me. I love them because they make me feel like a bad ass. Like Marie Curie!

But—obviously—without the unfortunate uranium radiation.

By the time five-thirty rolls around, I’m dressed in jeans, my Marie Curie boots, and a black T-shirt, along with my petri dish earrings.

And, yes, I do have a pair of earrings that look like a bacteria culture in a petri dish. Is that nerdy as hell? Yes, it is.

But I love them. Plus, the way I see it, even if this is an extended dream sequence, even if it is a not-real thing that is destined not to last, I refuse to pretend to be anything other than a nerd through and through.

I got teased a lot in school for being a nerd. Yes, I know, I’m a grown-ass woman who should be over and done with any lingering angst over shit that happened in high school. I know that, but what can I say? Some wounds linger. Personally, I think anyone who doesn’t admit to still feeling the sting from their worst wounds has never really been hurt. My point is this: I’m long past trying to hide who I am or pretending to be cool.

Since I’m ready to go early, I help my mom load the dishwasher—because nothing screams independent adult like helping your mother with chores—and then go wait on the front porch for Tom. My parents know I have a date, but they don’t know with whom.

I can’t imagine the embarrassment of having to explain this situation to my parents. I’m pretty sure my dad has no idea who the Boys of Summer are—yeah, he might have a vague recollection of my friend James having a famous brother, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

My mother, on the other hand, is pathologically supportive, pretty much of everyone she’s ever met. So my mom has been a BoS fan since day one. I swear she even has a T-shirt that says, “All my favorite boys are Boys of Summer!”

So there’s no way I’m telling her I have a date with Tom.

Instead, I described my date as “a friend of a friend,” which technically isn’t a lie.

I’m sitting on my front porch, reading an article on my phone, when Tom pulls up in his SUV.

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