I grinned at her. “Yeah, Merry, you really shouldn’t swear.”

She inhaled deeply, her eyes shooting daggers at me. “Siri, what’s the average prison time for grievous bodily harm?”

“Siri, where can I find myself a new best friend?”

Merry glared. “Jordan. Read the goddamn text.”

I peeked at my screen, my stomach in knots, my heart in my throat.

Hey, Jordan, so good to hear from you. No blind date set-up, thank God. I had a great time yesterday too, and I’m thinking of all the questions I’m going to ask you on the bus. One for each day, right?

I grinned at Merry. “Every day on the bus, he’s going to ask me those questions he mentioned. And it’s good to hear from me and he had a great time too.”

Merry rolled her eyes but smiled. “I think it’s safe to say next weekend is a date.”

I made a crazy face and did a happy dance, then stopped. “Oh my God, what do I reply?”

“Just be yourself.”

I cringed. “God, I don’t want him to run away screaming.”

“Well, say something that’s fun and flirty, in an asexual way.”

I stared at her. “What does that even mean?”

“Well, nothing too flirty or sexy.”

My stare became a squint. “Uh, have you met me? Any attempt at me being flirty has either ended in mortification for everyone involved, including innocent bystanders, or the guy asking if I’m feeling okay or if I’m allowed out unsupervised. It’s not good. It’s horrendous, actually. And as for sexy? All I want really big and rock-hard on a guy is his IQ, and what I consider to be hardcore porn is a picture of a guy reading a book with a hard cover. Soft-core porn is a paperback, and browsing Amazon is my version of PornHub, okay?”

Merry snorted. “Well, let’s just hope Mr Amazing is on the same page.”

“God, I hope that too. You have no idea.” I quickly thumbed out a reply.

I’m looking forward to it. I hit Send, then added another. And I’ll try not to disappoint.

My phone beeped almost immediately with his reply. That’s highly unlikely.

I made a high-pitched sound and clutched my phone to my chest and tried to gather my thoughts enough to reply with something half-intelligent.

It’s only fair if I have questions for you too, I replied.

And I’ll be only too happy to answer.

I almost swooned again, right there on Pitt Street. Can I apologise in advance?

For what?

The questions I ask and the answers I give.

Ha! I don’t think so. Don’t ever apologise for being you, Jordan. JSYK, I wouldn’t be thinking of questions to ask you if I wasn’t interested in your uncensored answers.