The Dating Experiment (The Experiment, #2)(14)

“Okay, aside from the career thing, you sound like you’re describing a dog,” Peyton said.

She wasn’t wrong.

“I know that, but ugh. It’s so hard. He’s a really, really great guy, and I had a lot of fun—”

“But,” Mellie said.

“But nothing.” I waved my donut through the air. “This is what I need. I need someone I’m interested in and I can get over that…that…moron next door.”

“Oh boy, that was savage,” Peyton said flatly. “Chlo, you don’t sound enthusiastic about this guy at all.”

“I know. But I am. I promise. He’s so lovely. He’s literally perfect—”

“Which means he probably has a small dick. How big were his hands?”

“I didn’t—I mean, I wasn’t looking—”

“Isn’t it the feet?” Mellie asked, looking between us. “Or is it both?”

Peyton paused. “Generally, it’s the ego. Did he have a big one?”

I bit back a giggle.

“Ego, Chloe. Did he have a big ego?”

“Unless she slept with him,” Mellie added. “Did you have sex with him on the first date?”

I almost dropped my donut. “No! Oh my God! He kissed me, but—”

“Well? How was it?”

“Nice,” I said lamely.

Peyton got up and walked to her desk. She opened a drawer, pulled something out, and walked back over. “Here. Use this. You need it.” She threw a book in my lap.

It was a thesaurus. She’d just given me a thesaurus.

“What?” I held it up. “What’s this for?”

“You’re having a second date, right?”

I nodded.

“When he asks you how you enjoyed your first date, you can’t tell him it was nice,” Mellie said, pausing to lick power from her thumb. “It’s just that simple, Chlo. Nice is the biggest insult you can give anyone.”

“Not true,” I fired back. “The biggest insult is “Is it in yet?””

“True story!” Peyton said a little too enthusiastically.

“You have experience with that?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

Mellie snorted. “Of course she does. More than we could imagine.”

“Here’s an idea—fuck yourself,” Peyton muttered in her direction.

I laughed. “Okay, back on track, guys. Seriously, Warren is lovely. He’s a great guy, and I’m excited to see him again. I really think it’s just about me finding someone I’m so interested in that I can’t help but get over Dom.”

They both paused at that.

Unfortunately, as I said it, it made me sound like a selfishly horrible person.

“Oh God, does this make me a horrible person?” I asked quietly, dropping my still-half-eaten donut into the box. “Using someone to get over Dom?”

“Are you gonna get under him?” Peyton asked.

“And you’re occasionally in charge of a child?” Mellie jerked her head around to look at her. “Peyton!”

“It’s a genuine question!” She held out her hands. “And my response depends on her answer!”

Mellie rolled her eyes and looked at me. “Chloe, I’ll be honest with you. Yes. It makes you selfish. The only reason you’re dating him is to get over the tool next door.”

Peyton coughed.

“Oh, he’s a tool, and you know it,” Mellie said, shooting her a look. “But Chloe, hon, you’re not entirely a dick. I mean, you like him. You see potential there. You’re interested in getting to know him better. That doesn’t make you selfish—that just makes you human. You’re not perfect.”

“Oh! It’s like Monica and Pete!” Peyton clapped her hands together. “You know, she dated him because he was handsome and really nice, but it was only when they parted that she realized she was attracted to him? And that was when she was getting over Richard. Maybe Warren is your Pete.”

“Peyton, they broke up,” I reminded her.

She waved her hand. “Only because he started fighting. Does Warren look like the fighting type?”

“I don’t know. It didn’t come up in conversation, funnily enough.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. But I still stand by it. Even if he’s only your stepping stone to getting over my brother, it doesn’t matter. Everyone who enters your life is there for a reason, and sometimes that reason is a lesson.”

I blinked at her. “Lay off the parenting. You’re getting way too philosophical for my liking.”

Mellie giggle-snorted.

“I get it, Peyt. Okay? I get it. Thanks. I’ll think over my selfishness.” I picked my donut back up, and just before I took a bite, I said, “Hey—did Dom mention anything about his date to you?”

She tilted her head slightly to the side and met my eyes. “No. Why? Should he have? I know y’all were at the same restaurant.”

“Ouch,” Mellie muttered.

“Yeah. We were a few tables away from each other.”

“Double ouch,” she muttered again.

I waved my hand dismissively in her direction. “He looked like he had a really bad night. Just before we left, he texted me a pretty shit message, and when we were outside, and I was about to get in my Uber, he looked at me like he was ready to kill me.”