“Gregory,” I said. Could he hear the way I was smiling? He had called me. He’d actually called me. Oh, it was kind of touching and wildly cute that he had.
“Kinsley, it’s good to hear your voice.” Gregory sounded comfortable. He sounded happy. I got the feeling that he really was happy to hear my voice. What an incredible feeling!
“I’m surprised you called me.”
“You are?”
“Most people just text nowadays,” I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “It’s not often that someone
actually takes the time to call another person. It’s nice. It makes me feel like you aren’t afraid to put yourself out there.”
No matter what people said or thought, texting was safe. It was a way to guard yourself against rejection. If you called someone, you could tell how they felt about you by the tone of their voice, as well as how long you talked to each other. If someone texted you, though, you might not get a response right away, and it could have nothing to do with you. Like, maybe they actually were at work, or perhaps they really were busy. There was absolutely no way to know.
“Sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve dated anyone.” There was a regretful tone to Gregory’s voice, and I felt a little bad for making him feel uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, don’t be.”
“You and your late wife,” I started to say.
“Ashley.”
“Right. You and Ashley, you knew each other for a long time, huh?”
“We were childhood sweethearts,” he said. “Isn’t that kind of silly? Who meets their wife when they’re five years old? I did, though. Somehow, we made it work.”
“Well, she sounds like she was an incredible woman.”
“She was. She had to be. She loved a goofy guy like me, after all.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t know him very well. I didn’t know him at all, really, but I liked him. Gregory was handsome and fun and smart. He was kind. It was hard to find people who were genuinely kind anymore. I got the feeling that he wasn’t really sure what he was doing, either. Somehow, that made me feel a lot better. The world didn’t seem as scary when you had someone else trying to swim with you.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t really know what to say, and I make things awkward. I had a good time with you at dinner, though.” I could practically hear him shrugging. Knowing that he had a good time made me feel better, and knowing that he felt awkward sometimes, too, meant that every worry I had seemed to fade away. It took a lot to admit that you were having a hard time, especially to someone you didn’t know that well.
“I had a good time, too,” I admitted. I hadn’t really expected very much, but dinner with Bailey and Gregory had been quite nice. He’d been charming, and she’d been adorable.
“I’d love to do it again sometime.”
“Well, you know where I work,” I said. Maybe he’d come by and surprise me. The two of us could share one of those little snowmen cupcakes I’d been working so hard on. Savored was going to be part of a baking competition in about a week. I had been planning on showcasing those cupcakes in particular, but I wanted him to try them first. Gregory would give it to me straight, I realized. He’d be honest as to whether they were good or not.
“Yes, I suppose I do.”
I realized, all of a sudden, that I was leaving things too open-ended. That was one of the problems with dating. You couldn’t just say, “Call me when you feel like it!” Instead, you had to be very specific. You had to spell things out for people. I didn’t want to let a guy like Gregory fall through the cracks because I didn’t let him know I was interested. After all, we hadn’t even kissed.
“I’m free on Saturday,” I told him.
“Saturday?”
“Yeah, I don’t have to work, and we could hang out, you know, if you want to.”
Maybe it was a bit abrupt. Maybe it was bold of me. It didn’t matter, though. I was going to be better than I had been in the past. My relationship with Tony had been full of problems, and one of the issues was that I didn’t know how to go after what I wanted. Well, I wasn’t going to have that problem this time.
“Saturday sounds nice.”
“I’ll bring you cupcakes,” I told him.
“That sounds amazing.”