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“Dom,” I whispered.
"Last night on the porch was real. I want more of that."
"So do I."
"Tell me when to pick you up, and we can go for a drink."
I swallowed. "God, I love the sound of that... but I'm terrified."
"Of what?"
"Getting hurt."
"Reese, I wouldn't hurt you."
"No, I know, or maybe not intentionally, or... God, I’m babbling."
He chuckled. "That’s okay. Let’s take it easy and share a cocktail over the phone, like you suggested."
I laughed nervously. "Right! Yes. Let’s do that.”
But now that he'd brought up the idea of spending time together, this felt different, more intimate. I didn't want to hang up.
I probably looked a bit stupid walking up the stairs to the bar, holding the phone to my ear. We weren't even talking, but I could feel him on the other line. I heard him take a few sips and two deep breaths as I went to order—we couldn’t carry on a conversation if I slipped behind the bar to prepare my own drink.
“Wait a second, this place is packed. I'll just ask Tom to make me one.”
I held the phone to my chest and flagged the bartender. "Tom, make me a Negroni, please. You know how I like it."
He nodded, and I went to the table we usually kept for ourselves. It had a permanent tag on it that said Reserved. I liked to come here from time to time. The building wasn't very tall, so I only had a view of the rooftops of the nearby homes and other smaller buildings. A few trees peeked up from between the buildings—a smattering of green among reddish and brown tiles.
One of our servers brought me the drink only a few seconds after I sat down.
"I like the service in the hotel. It's so fast," I said into the phone.
"Got your drink?" Dom asked.
"Yes."
"Then cheers, Reese."
"What are we toasting to?"
"A completely unexpected friendship. No, that’s not the right word. Acquaintanceship?"
"I never even knew that was a word," I replied, laughing as I took a sip.
"I'm not sure it is."
"So what did you do today?" I asked him.
He hesitated for a bit, then said, "I visited my dad."
"Oh, that's sweet. So he also lives in Chicago?"
"Yeah." His tone was a bit quiet.
"You don't want to talk about it?"
