“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Her eyes lingered on mine. “Truly, Aspyn. Just look out for yourself.”
I put down my coffee and walked over to hug her.
She rubbed my back. “I don’t want to beat a dead horse. So let’s talk about something else.”
“After you’re done with this tryst,” Cole said, “I’m gonna make it my mission to find you a stand-up guy.” He gave Hannah her sippy cup. “I’ve got a few single friends.”
As we continued to sit and talk, Jasmine fidgeted a lot. She still seemed uncomfortable. Despite her encouraging me to go for Troy, I don’t think she ever thought it would happen.
I certainly didn’t.
Troy
I pulled on my hair. “Why am I so nervous, Pat? She’s not gonna let what Jasmine says affect her, right? She’s starting to trust me.”
Meow.
“Thank you for agreeing with me even if you don’t really mean it.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I sense your distrust sometimes, too.”
Patrick purred.
My phone rang, causing me to jump. It wasn’t like I’d been waiting with bated breath or anything. Trying to sound like I hadn’t been shitting my pants for the past couple of hours, I picked up. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hi,” she said.
“They left?”
“Yeah.”
I swallowed. “How was it?”
“Well, I’d say it was a nice visit, but it was awkward as hell, as you might imagine.”
“Yeah. I can imagine what was happening over there. That was some bad luck. The first time I ever answer your door and bam.”
“Without a shirt no less.” She sighed. “Anyway, Kiki just got back, so I can’t talk long. I have to make dinner. But I just wanted you to know that they left, and I handled it okay.”
Rubbing my temple, I asked, “Did she…have anything interesting to say about you and me?”
“As you might expect, she did. She thinks you’re safe for a good time, but that’s about it. But can you blame her?”
“No, I can’t. And it doesn’t matter to me what she thinks, as long as what she says doesn’t get in your head and make you second-guess everything. I only care what you think.”
“I’m a big girl with a mind of my own. Believe it or not, I tried to defend you.”
“Aspyn Dumont defending Troy Serrano. What’s gotten into the water in Meadowbrook? I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I guess good sex will mar one’s judgment.” She laughed.
“Whatever’s working, I’ll keep doing it.”
“You know what the worst part of today was?”
“What?” I smiled, finally feeling my pulse come down.
“That you had to leave early, and we didn’t get to spend the remainder of the weekend together.”
“Well, if I’m on my best behavior, maybe I’ll get another weeknight dinner invitation.”
“I’ll have to figure out how to not make dinner a science experiment next time.”
• • •
The following Thursday evening, I was home alone in front of the television eating a dish of pasta, beans, and broccoli I’d thrown together. I hadn’t had a chance to see Aspyn this week after all. She’d mentioned she was having some issues with Kiki and that it was probably best if we waited until Friday to get together. Although I couldn’t be sure, I suspected part of it might have had something to do with that dance scheduled for Friday night at her school.
While Aspyn was busy dealing with life stuff, I took advantage of the free evenings to catch up on work and had dinner one night with Nonno. During the day today, he and I had gone to the mall since the weather was too crappy to do anything else. I always thought of Aspyn every time we went anywhere now, and it made me miss her company.
Just as I’d taken my dirty plate to the kitchen, my cell phone rang. I smiled when I saw her name pop up.
“How did you know I was thinking about you?” I asked when I answered.
“I didn’t. But that’s nice to know.”
“How’s everything going?”
She let out what sounded like a frustrated breath. “Not that great, actually.”
My stomach sank. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing bad. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”
Back in the living room, I sat down on the couch and kicked my feet up. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
After a moment’s pause, she said, “Kiki is really upset that I haven’t changed my mind about the dance. I’m starting to doubt whether I’m making the right decision in not letting her go.”
“Let’s talk it through then. What’s the bottom line? Is it that you’re worried she’ll get the wrong idea if I go with her—get too attached to me or something? Or is there more to your apprehension?”
“It’s not only my apprehension about her expectations when it comes to you.” She paused. “That’s part of it. But also, if she shows up, isn’t it almost like…giving into bullying? I mean, what if you weren’t willing to take her and she had no one to go with? She would have dealt with it. I don’t want to teach her to have knee-jerk reactions every time someone is mean to her. She doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone by showing up just to make a point. At the same time, I can see why that would be empowering, so I’m not sure whether I’m blowing everything out of proportion.” She exhaled. “I’m just…tired.”