Sydney is at the kitchen table doing homework. Apparently she senses my confusion because she offers up an explanation. “Bridgette kissed a girl in a porn film, and she refuses to tell Warren the name of it so that he can watch it. It’s become his life mission.”
Wow. “That explains so much,” I say.
Warren looks at me. “How many porn movies do you think are filmed every year?”
I shrug. “I wouldn’t even know how to make a guess.”
“A fucking lot. That’s how many.”
I nod and then give my complete focus back to Toy Blast. I don’t even want to think about how much porn Warren feels forced to watch.
There’s a quick knock at the front door before it swings open. Brennan walks in and I immediately jump up, excited to see him. I don’t think I’ve seen him since Warren’s birthday party.
“Maggie?” He immediately wraps his arms around me and hugs me, then puts his hands on my shoulders, holding me at arm’s length. “What are you doing here?”
I wave my hand toward Bridgette’s old bedroom. “I’m staying a few days until my apartment is ready.”
He shakes his head. “Apartment? Where? Here?” His confusion is genuine. It surprises me Ridge hasn’t mentioned it to him. He glances over at the table and sees Sydney. He releases my shoulders and takes a step back, eyeing me. Then he looks around the room. “Where’s Ridge?”
“He went to grab dinner,” Warren says. “Tacos. Nom nom.”
I walk back to the couch to reclaim my seat and immediately check my phone for missed calls, even though the ringer is on. Nothing. I look back up at Brennan who is scratching his head in confusion. He’s literally scratching his head. It makes me laugh.
“You’re moving into the same complex as Ridge?” he asks. Then he looks at Sydney. “And you’re okay with that?” He looks back at me. “What is happening?”
I look at Sydney, and she’s fighting a smile. “Welcome to maturity, Brennan,” Sydney says.
“Breasts of Burden?” Warren asks Bridgette. We all look at him. He shrugs innocently. “Hey, I’m not the mature one. Don’t look at me.”
Ridge walks through the door with tacos, and Brennan immediately forgets about the odd arrangement that just threw him for a loop, and Warren is off the couch with a one-track mind that has nothing to do with porn movies.
Tacos can alleviate pretty much any issue. I’m convinced of that now.
I’m making my plate when my phone starts to ring. “Oh, my God,” I whisper.
Sydney is standing next to me. “Oh, my God,” she says.
I rush to the living room. Jake’s name is flashing across the screen. I look at Sydney, wide-eyed. “It’s him.”
“Answer it!” she yells.
I look down at the phone.
“Who is it?” Bridgette asks.
“A guy Maggie likes. She didn’t think he’d call back.”
I look at Bridgette, and she’s looking at me expectantly now. “Well, answer it,” she says, waving at my phone, annoyed with me.
“Maggie, answer it!” Sydney says. I love how she sounds just as nervous as I am.
I swallow my nerves, clear my throat and then slide my finger across the screen.
I walk toward the bedroom, slip inside, and close the door. “Hello?” It doesn’t matter that I cleared my throat before I said that. My voice still shakes with my nerves.
“Hi.”
I let my head fall back against the bedroom door when I hear his voice. I feel it in every part of me.
“Sorry I put you through to voicemail earlier,” he says. “I was in a meeting. Forgot to silence my phone.”
His admission makes me smile. At least it wasn’t because he was annoyed that I called.
“It’s okay,” I say. “How have you been?”
He sighs. “Good. I’m good. You?”
“Also good. I moved to Austin a few days ago, so I’ve been busy.”
“You moved?” he asks, not expecting that response from me. “That’s…unfortunate.”
I walk over to my bed and sit down. “Not really. I have a rule against dating anyone in the same zip code, so it’s a good thing. Keeps things from becoming overwhelming.”
He laughs. “Maggie, I’m too busy to be overwhelming, even if we lived on the same street.”
“I don’t think you can help but be a little overwhelming, Jake. We’ve had sex. You’re hardly underwhelming.”
I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. His voice is quiet when he says, “I’m glad you called.”
“Me, too.” I lie back on my bed, pressing a hand to my stomach. I haven’t been this nervous talking to a guy…ever. I don’t know how to process all the things his voice does to my stomach, so I just press my hand against it as if that will somehow calm the storm brewing inside me.
“I can’t talk long,” he says. “I’m still at work. But I want to say something before I go.”
I blow out a quiet breath, preparing for the impact of his rejection. “Okay,” I whisper.
He sighs heavily. “I feel like you don’t know what you want. You agree to go out with me, but you tell me on our date you don’t want to see me for a second time. But then we have an entire night of incredible sex. Then you kick me out the next morning before I’m even finished cooking breakfast. A few days later you show up at my office, then you shoot me down the same day at the hospital. Now you’re leaving me a voicemail. I’m not asking for anything other than a little consistency. Even if that consistency is agreeing to never speak again. I just… I need consistency.”
I close my eyes, nodding to myself. He’s right. He’s so right, I’m surprised he even called me back. “I can respect that. And I can give you that.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment. I like the quiet. It’s almost as if I can feel him more in the quiet. Almost half a minute goes by without either of us saying a word. “I’ve wanted to call you every day.”
Those words make me frown more than smile because I know exactly what he’s been feeling, and I don’t feel good for making him feel that way. “I’ve wanted to apologize to you every day,” I admit.
“You don’t need to apologize for anythin
g,” he says. “You’re a woman who was certain you didn’t want a relationship with anyone. But then you met me and we had such a great night together that your feelings confused you. I like that I was the guy who put a wrinkle in your plan.”
I laugh. “You have a really unique way of looking at my extreme indecisiveness. I like it.”
“I figured you would. Listen, I have to go,” he says. “Want me to call you tonight?”
“Actually…are you busy tomorrow?”
“I have a lecture at the hospital I have to attend tomorrow. From eight to ten. But I’m free after that.”
“You’re free the whole day?”
“The whole day,” he says.
I don’t know that I’ve ever asked a guy on a date before. This might be a first. “I’m going with some friends to Georgetown tomorrow. To Inner Space Cavern. You can come if you want. Or we could just do something after if you think going to look at caves with people you’ve never met before is a little weird.”
“Won’t be weird if you’re there. I can be in Austin by noon at the latest.”
I’m smiling like an idiot. “Okay. I’ll text you the address.”
“Okay,” he says. I can almost hear the smile in his voice, too. “See you tomorrow, Five Hundred.”
I stare at the phone after he ends the call, fingering my smile. How does he fill me so full of feels, even over the phone?
.They all look at me as I get to the living room and Sydney pauses mid-chew. After I grab two tacos out of the sack in the kitchen I say, “We might have to take two cars tomorrow so we’ll all fit.”
It’s all I say, but when I look over at Sydney, she’s smiling.
So is Bridgette, but her smile is a little more sinister. “This should be fun. A shiny new toy for Warren to break in.”
I look at Warren. Then back at Bridgette. Jake is going to spend the day with these two tomorrow. The entire day.
What was I thinking?
It’s been a good week. Finally. I’ve stayed at Sydney’s the last few nights, and honestly…I don’t want to leave. I love sleeping next to her. I love waking up next to her. I love doing absolutely nothing with her. But I also know that this is a very new relationship that already seems to be moving at warp speed, so the last thing we need to do is live together.