“I guess,” Lindsay said, “back when we were dating, I didn’t need to have our whole future planned, but I did need to know we had a future. And you seemed incapable of thinking farther than a week ahead, and I guess if we’re really going to do this, I need to know not exactly what the future holds, just that we’re thinking about it.”
“We are. I am. And same. I just want you to be happy. For us to be happy.”
She smiled. “Good.”
That should have been satisfying, but Brad still felt unsettled. There was something here she wasn’t saying. This job offer she was considering seemed odd, and she was only talking about it in the vaguest terms. Was it even real, or was she just trying to get him to react to something? “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.
“I’m not ready to talk about it yet. Let’s just say, I have an opportunity, but I haven’t made a decision about it just yet. I will tell you as soon as I do.”
“Is it something I can help you decide?”
She gave him a long look. “No, I think I have to decide for myself.”
For some reason that bothered Brad. He glanced at the clock. It was still pretty early, closing in on 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Brad wasn’t working today, but he had errands to run and he was neglecting poor Hamilton. He’d called his neighbor and asked her to put some food out, but that poor cat had just been home alone for more than twenty-four hours.
He was curious about what she wasn’t telling him, and a little miffed that she wasn’t.
Brad got out of bed and started looking for his clothes, which were still strewn across the floor from the previous night. “You know, I meant to have a conversation with you about what we were to each other. Are we back together officially? Are you my girlfriend?”
“I thought we’d gotten past that.”
“You’re not answering the question.”
“Yes, fine. We’re back together. Why are you mad at me?”
Brad blew out a breath and pulled on his jeans. “I’m not mad. I’m…confused. It feels weird to me that you’re not telling me about whatever this opportunity is.”
“It’s not something that has any bearing on you or us. It’s just a decision I’m trying to make.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Of course I do! Can you please respect that I’m not ready to talk about it yet? I promise I’ll explain everything in a couple of days, I just need some time to make sure I’m making the right decision for the right reasons.”
“All right.” Brad pulled on his shirt.
“Youaremad.”
“I just… I need some time to think, okay. I feel like we’re still kind of talking past each other. And I really do have a lot to do today, so I have to go.”
“All right.” Lindsay climbed out of bed. Still completely naked, she walked over and put her arms around his shoulders. Then she kissed him. It was a long, lingering kiss, the sort of kiss that made his skin tingle and his toes curl, the kind of kiss that made him forget he was annoyed and instead prompted him to put his hands on her back and run his fingers over her smooth skin.
Because he was in love with her. He cherished Lindsay. He wanted them to just get past whatever this weird tension between them was so they could get to that future Lindsay kept talking about.
“I gotta go,” he said.
“Okay. Are you working Monday?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ll come by the café at the end of your shift. We can talk then.”
“All right.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek. Then she stepped away and grabbed a robe off a hook on the back of her bedroom door. “I’ll walk you out, I guess.”
Chapter 24
Monday morning was an avalanche.
