“For you and me?” She looks contemplative, tapping a fingeragainst her lips for a few seconds before she grins at me. “I think it’s just right.”
And as I watch her kneel on my blanket and start sorting through the food, I think to myself that I couldn’t agree more. Almost as much as I think how much I’d like to do it again. How much I’d like totellpeople about it. Well, maybe notallof it—but in general? Letting people know that I’ve started to think of her as mine? Hell yeah. I want that.
I glance at her warily as I join her on the blanket.
I just have to convinceherthat it’s a good idea first.
Twenty-Five
Abby
I find myself smiling a lotmore in the week following Jack’s and my “date.” Sure, it was a little outside the ordinary, but there’s something about the day we spent that has had me feeling lighter than I have in a long time. I hadn’t planned beforehand to seduce him right there in the open, in the middle of the woods, truthfully—not that I regret it in the slightest—but it’s what came before and after that really made it memorable.
It was the way his face lit up when he told me about his special spot, the jokes he told while hand-feeding me bits of the snacks he packed of his own volition, the way he insisted on holding my hand the entire way there and back. Even with me derailing it a bit with sex, which I don’t think Jack would complain about, it’s probably the best date I’ve ever had, torturous hiking and all.
I’ve smiled at more customers on shift today at the coffee shop than I normally would, and I think even my coworkers are starting to notice, if the way they keep giving me strange glances is any indication. I haven’t exactly endeared myself to any of them sinceI started here; it’s not something I’m particularly good at, the whole making friends business. But more than once today I have offered up thank-yous over trivial things and even asked Jayla about her weekend—something I don’t think I’ve done once since I got the job.
They probably all think I’ve been bodysnatched at this point, but I can’t find it in me to care.
If you’d told me weeks ago that I would be this gooey inside over Jack Baker, I would have laughed in your face. As it is now…it seems that the more time I spend with my flirty hockey player, the more sides I see to him that have me wondering how I ever thought I didn’t like him in the first place.
Jesus, is this what it’s like to be twitterpated?
It’s a little embarrassing, and a lot too much for me to fathom, but I can’t seem to turn it off. Not when most of my evenings are filled with laughter and kisses and often even more, my mornings boasting little notes left behind to have a good day or, on the occasion we’re both there, more pancakes. The guy really likes making pancakes. Not that I’m complaining. I haven’t felt so spoiled in all my life.
Which, in hindsight, should have been a good indicator that bad news was on the way.
My phone rings halfway through my shift, only minutes before Jack is supposed to meet me here for my break after he gets some practice in at the nearby rink—and even though it’s not a dreaded phone call from my father, it’s still bad news.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Thompson?”
“This is she.”
“This is Ginger, the office manager here at your apartment building.”
My gut tightens at her already-apologetic tone, knowing that she can’t be calling me with glad tidings.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry to have to bring more bad news,” she says, “but we’ve hit more delays in the repairs to your unit and the other units affected by the flooding.”
“Oh no.”
“We’re still estimating the full extent of the damage, but it’s looking like it will put us back another month for the repairs, at the very least.”
“Shit,” I say, immediately apologizing after it slips out of my mouth. “Sorry, I just—that sucks.”
“I’m so sorry,” she tells me. “We will of course continue to comp the rent for the months you are unable to stay, but I do hope that you have other arrangements in the meantime.”
I wince as I consider my current living arrangement, knowing that I can’t just continue to mooch off of Jack’s kindness forever. I know that we didn’t exactly set a time limit on his offer when he gave it, but surely he didn’t expect me to just take up his spare bedroom for some indefinite amount of time. And considering what we’ve been doing…Well. I’d hate for him to feel obligated.
“I can figure something out,” I tell her, knowing Jack and I will have to have a conversation and already feeling awkward about it. “No worries.”
Except I have all the worries.
“Excellent,” she says with a relieved sigh. “I will keep you updated on our progress. Hopefully we can get this resolved sooner rather than later.”