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Reid: Hey. I just left the world’s most awkward voicemail.
* * *
Reid: Please just ignore it and delete it, but I really do want to see you
* * *
Reid: I just got back to town and saw you weren’t home, so…
* * *
Reid: Can I see you tonight?
Groaning, he put the phone down. “I’m even needier and more awkward in a text. I’ll be lucky if she ever speaks to me again.”
Knowing she wasn’t going to respond right away, Reid seriously considered just going home. If he kept driving around looking for her, he’d feel like a stalker. So instead, he actually went into the grocery store and did some shopping because he had a feeling he’d be tossing most of the contents of his refrigerator after not being home for almost a week. Between his double shift and running away, it wasn’t going to be pretty when he went home.
So he shopped for groceries and bought a few ingredients to make a special dinner just in case Ashlynn agreed to see him.
And flowers.
One his way home, he drove by Books & Beans and slowed down to see if he spotted her.
“So much for not being a stalker…”
But her car wasn’t out front and he took it as a sign to just go home and hope that she’d respond to him.
Even if it was to tell him to fuck off.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he murmured.
When he pulled into the apartment complex lot, he spotted Ashlynn’s car and fought the urge to go and knock on her door. He’d bring his things up to his place first and deal with cleaning up and if she didn’t call or text by then, he’d reach out again.
As predicted, things had definitely gotten funky in his refrigerator and the apartment stank a bit. Luckily he had taken out the trash before leaving for work before his double shift otherwise things would be almost toxic in there right now.
He put the new groceries away, unpacked, started up a load of laundry, and then took the rancid trash out to the dumpster. His phone was always in his pocket but it had been completely silent. On his way back up to his place, he stopped on the second floor and stared at Ashlynn’s door.
“Screw it. Someone’s got to make the first move.”
Stepping closer, Reid knocked on the door and then almost felt like he was holding his breath while he waited for her to answer.
If she answered.
When he heard the knob turn, it was hard not to sag with relief. But when Ashlynn opened the door and gave him that hard, cool glare she had when he first came back to Sweetbriar, he knew she was less than thrilled to see him.
“Hey,” he said quietly. “I um…I texted you a little while ago. I just got back and was hoping we could talk.”
Her expression didn’t change at all and she was hugging the door like a lifeline, completely blocking his path. “Now’s not a good time.”
“Oh. Okay.” Then he let out a nervous laugh. “At least that’s not a no, so…”
She wasn’t amused.
“What about dinner? I bought all the makings for my penne alla vodka, and…”
“I have plans,” she said.
All he could do was nod. “Okay. How about breakfast?”
