Chapters (58)
- Cover
- Praise for Abbi Waxman and her novels
- Berkley Titles by Abbi Waxman
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Summer
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- Fall
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Readers Guide
- Questions for Discussion
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“No,” replied Laura, “although you might like it.” She reached out. “Can I see your wrist, please?”
Nina let her examine her forearm. “It feels fine, I doubt we need to do anything.”
Laura ignored her and started gently stretching and massaging Nina’s hand.
“That definitely feels sore,” said Nina, then added, “How’s it going with Bob?”
“They went gardening yesterday,” said Polly. She raised her eyebrows. “Which is my personal nomination for worst date idea ever, but to each his own.”
“It was fun, I met people, I did things.” Laura shrugged. “But it was in no way a date.”
“Did you eat food together?” asked Polly.
Laura nodded.
“Date,” said Polly.
“I hate dating,” said Nina firmly. “If Tom and I break up, that might be it for me. I don’t think I can go through the first part of a relationship again.” She shuddered.
“I like dating,” said Polly, “because I’m only really interested in, like, a quarter of a person.”
Nina looked at her. “Do you mean a quarter of people? Like, one in four people?” Laura was stretching her fingers apart, having interlaced her own fingers with them, and it felt amazingly good. Just think how fast I’ll be able to turn pages after all this loosening up!
“No,” Polly patiently explained, “I mean like a quarter of a person. When you’re dating, you only share a small part of yourself, right? You don’t use all your material, you bring out your best stuff, the top twenty-five percent. You dress well, you think about what you’re saying, you’re a considerate lover . . . Once we start digging into more established, everyday personality traits, I start wanting to bounce.” She sighed. “I remember one time I was about six weeks into a dating thing, and we decided to go away for the weekend. Up until then the guy had been hilarious, charming, and devoted to oral sex. So, I’m lying next to him in bed and he starts booking the trip. Twenty minutes later I’m hopping up and down pulling on my jeans because he turned out to be a cheap, fussy traveler who needs to use air miles whenever possible and reads every single review, starting with the ones that give one star.” She lay down on the lounger and closed her eyes. “Most guys I’ve dated are only about twenty-one percent interesting, which is usually good for about three months.”
There was a small silence, and then Nina said to Laura, “The thing to remember about Polly is that she’s a scientist at heart. The rest of us are merely subjects for study.”