“You don’t.” I slid off the bed to brush my hair. “It’s never happened.”
“Hmmm. So how do you decide which state to go to next? Are they in order?”
“No. We look at all the determining factors. What time of year it is, the weather during our stay, if there’s any concerts or festivals that will be there, what kind of house we can get, what hospital we’d get to work in and what positions they’re looking to fill.” I pulled off my towel and my long, wet hair tumbled out. I was brushing it when Justin gasped.
“Oh my God. Someone’s proposing on the bridge,” he said. “Seriously. Hold on, I’ll get you a picture.”
I smiled and started working my damp hair into a bun.
“Okay,” he said. “I just sent it.”
I leaned over my screen and laughed. The woman had her hands on her mouth and the man was on one knee, tall buildings looming in the backdrop. “Wow. That is a really great picture spot though. I kinda get why they do it there.”
“It’s a nice walk too. Brad likes it. Want to see it in real time? I can video chat you—”
“Uh, no. I’m not dressed.”
“Well just accept the video call but don’t turn on your camera.”
I thought about it a second. “Okay. But I’m really not going to turn on my camera.”
“Totally understand.”
A moment later a video call came through. When I accepted the call, the screen faced the long concrete bridge. There were people on bikes and a woman jogging with headphones in. “Say hi, Brad.” The camera angled down and Brad looked up at it with his frown, wearing a red leash and collar. “Can you see okay?” Justin asked, coming back to the bridge.
I pulled my phone closer. “Yeah. Wow, it’s really pretty.”
“Look at this.”
He brought the camera over to the side of the railing and panned over the Mississippi. There was a waterfall churning in the distance.
“The bridge is part of a two-mile historic walking loop. I try to do it once a day when the weather’s good.”
He started walking again, the camera forward so I could see what he did.
“Are there shops on the loop?” I asked, seeing buildings with outdoor seating off in the distance.
“Yeah, there’s some cool coffee shops, a couple of restaurants. I have to drive to get my favorite food though. Ecuadorian from this little hole-in-the-wall place called Chimborazo. I’ll take you if you come down here.”
Then he turned the camera on himself and beamed into the frame. I sucked in a little breath of air.
My God was he cute.
It was even better when he was live action. Or maybe it was even better because he had a good personality to match? I think his sense of humor made him more attractive.
He was wearing a gray T-shirt and had a black earbud in his ear. His hair was messy. His dimples were popping and he had the nicest brown eyes. They were kind eyes.
Justin looked like that quintessential TV show boyfriend that the main character always has in high school. The super sweet one who lives next door and takes her to prom and lets her wear his hoodies and they only break up because he has to go to college out of state and it’s her idea. There was just something so easy and grounding about him.
I realized I was smiling at my phone. I let out a breath and tightened my robe. Then I turned my camera on too.
When my face popped up on the screen, he grinned. “Hey.”
“I figured you should have a right to know you’re not getting catfished,” I said. “Still not a reporter.”
He laughed. He was still walking, but he kept the camera on himself.
“So,” I said, sliding back onto my bed. “You have a captive audience. You’re on a scenic walking path. Show me your town.”
CHAPTER 4 JUSTIN
I pulled up to the high school pickup line and put the car in park, then grabbed my phone to look at the picture of Emma. Again.
We’d talked for three hours last night. She stayed on the phone with me for my whole walk, then another two hours after I’d gotten back to my apartment. She was cool. She was really cool. I liked her. This curse-breaking thing was turning out to be way more interesting than I had anticipated.
A bell rang and kids started pouring out. The last day of summer school. When I saw my brother, Alex, walking with a group of his friends toward the buses, I rolled down the passenger side window and leaned across the seat. “Hey! Need a ride?”
He looked over and his whole face lit up. He said an excited goodbye to his friends and jogged toward me, backpack bouncing. I got out just as he made it to the car, and I tossed him the keys. He caught them against his stomach and stared at me with wide eyes. “Seriously?”
“Mom says you need behind-the-wheel hours. You’re driving.”
His face ripped into a grin. “Yesssss!” He fist pumped.
We drove for thirty minutes, then stopped at a drive-thru, got food, and headed back to Mom’s. He clipped a curb and almost missed a stop sign on the way home, but we survived.
“Hey, we’re here,” I announced, shutting the front door behind me. “I got McDonald’s.”
“In the kitchen!” Mom called.
