Page 7 of Catch a Tiger

Heart pounding, she stares at her friend who stares right back. She knows, by the look in his eye, that he won’t budge on this.

Sighing, she opens it up and reads what Mark has to say.

Mark: Wait. What? Do I know you?

“Shit,” she whispers. She really hadn’t thought this through. She hadn’t anticipated this, though she should have expected it.

“What should I say?” she asks Darius who read the message already.

“The truth. All good relationships start with the truth.”

“But this isn’t a real relationship.”

He raises his eyebrows. “It is on social media.”

She growls under her breath. “Tell me what to say or I’ll tell your next boyfriend that you wet the bed.”

His jaw flexes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I would. And that you cry after sex.”

His nostrils flare. “You’re a monster.”

“Damn right. Now, what do I say?” Her fingers hover over the keypad, waiting and ready.

“I already said. Tell him the truth.”

She stomps her foot like a child. “You want me to tell him that I picked some random guy because I was lonely?”

“Yes.”

She growls again. “Fine.” Her fingers fly over the keyboard as she types it out, though she leaves out the lonely part.

Maria: No. Well, I mean, obviously we know each other somehow, but I don’t remember meeting you.

His response is immediate.

Mark: Then why does it say we are in a relationship?

Maria: Because I wanted a boyfriend. And I picked you. Lucky man.

Mark: Normal people know each other before they start dating

.

“See,” Darius hisses. “I told you!”

“Hush.”

Maria: Consider us not normal.

He stops talking and she begins to bite her lip after a minute of no response. Did she piss him off? Why isn’t he fighting her on this?

“I think you scared him off,” Darius says.

“Possibly. But what kind of a relationship would it be if we didn’t have disagreements,” she jokes.

“You should cancel the relationship status before this gets out of hand.”