One & Only (Canton) by Viv Daniels Read Free Book Online Page B

“I’ll keep my nerd boy, thank you very much. When he’s the billionaire owner of that seaweed-powered car company, you’ll change your tune.”
    “All hail Seaweed Zuckerberg and our very smelly future cars,” said Blonde #3 and I heard glasses clinking.
    I breathed in very long and slow through my nose, then opened my eyes. Sylvia finished going over the menu with her table and gave them a few minutes to think it over. I trailed back to the kitchen with her in silence, my heart pounding, my cheeks inflamed.
    “Oh. My. God,” Sylvia said when we got back to the kitchen.
    I kept breathing.
    “She might as well have just come out and said she was only dating him for his future earning potential!”
    I swallowed thickly. “And they don’t get it at all!” I blurted. “‘Smelly cars?’ Come on! The whole point is to convert the seaweed to ethanol. It’s not going to smell like low tide or anything.”
    Sylvia blinked at me, then chuckled. “Leave it to you, Tess, to get all worked up about precisely the wrong thing. If Dylan’s as big a nerd as they seem to think he is, then you two are perfect for each other.”
    I wiped my clammy hands on my apron. “I’m going to go out there and tell them about the potential for kelp forests as a marine pollution sink and—” I stopped. No, I wasn’t. Because out there was Hannah Swift. If some waitress came up and served them a lecture on algae instead of their lunch, Hannah would be certain to remember. And if she mentioned it to Dylan or her dad…
    Sylvia was shaking her head at me sadly. “Kelp forests? Tess, come on. Let’s focus on the issue here. Your ex is dating some total bimbo who’s only after him for his money. There’s no point in being noble about that. If you want him back, you have the moral authority to strike.”
    “But I don’t want him back.” It sounded very convincing. “Dylan is a really nice guy, and I like him a lot, and once, a long time ago, we had one good night together. But I was the one who walked away. I don’t want to be with him.”
    Sylvia’s shoulders slumped as she looked at me. Inwardly, I begged her not to ask why not? “Okay,” she said at last. “But still, if he’s such a nice guy, he should know that his girlfriend is using him.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You figure out a way to let him know that without making me sound like some creeper stalker ex who does want him back, and I’ll consider it.”
    Sylvia, of course, could not, so she dropped the subject and went back to training me. Later, Annabel called me over to the computer so she could show me how to split checks. She handed me a stack of black pleather bill cases. “Ladies Who Lunch want a five-way split.”
    I opened the top bill case. The platinum American Express card inside read Hannah K Swift .
    Sylvia wanted me to resent Hannah because she was dating Dylan. She wanted me to be jealous of her because Hannah had the affection and attention of the only guy I’d ever really liked.
    Sylvia had no freaking clue. I couldn’t allow myself to begin hating Hannah Swift. If I started down that path, I’d never, ever stop.

SIX
    The total on the bookstore register read $1,534.71 . At first, I was sure it was a mistake. An extra number typed in. A decimal in the wrong place. I asked to look at the breakdown.
    It was right. I almost fainted, right there on the floor of the Canton Campus Bookstore.
    “I said I was looking for used books,” I told the clerk, trying not to choke.
    She shrugged and pointed at two textbooks in the pile before me with little red “USED” stickers on their spines. “Those are the only ones I could find used. Not as many people take the upper-level courses, and most of them keep their books.”
    I bit my lip as I studied the pile before me. I’d always gotten by with used texts. This was twice what I’d budgeted for textbooks this term, and I hadn’t even gotten my online course packets yet. But I wouldn’t despair. They’d