“Okay. I’ll put something together for breakfast,” she said, and I could hear the relief in her voice that I’d given in to seeing her.
“Sounds good, Mom. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
“All right, sweetie. We’ll see you soon.”
We disconnected the call.
As I went to put my phone back on my nightstand so I could hop in the shower, I saw my mom wasn’t the only one whose messages I’d missed. There was also one from Coop.
Good morning. How are you feeling?
One simple text from him took me back in time to when hearing from him made my heart skip a beat. I’d been so in love with him, and my entire world had revolved around him. As much as his concern touched something deep inside me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to work on healing if I allowed myself to get caught up in him again.
Instead of replying right away, I headed for the bathroom to take a shower.
Standing under the hot water, I thought about how I wanted to respond to the text. Part of me wanted to pour my heart out to him since he seemed interested in my well-being, but I was still embarrassed by how he’d found me the night before.
Stepping out of the shower, I dried off and walked back into my bedroom to grab my phone. I settled on sending him a truthful but brief answer to his question.
Just tired
I’m about to head to practice but if you need anything, please let me know
The thing about Coop that made him both wonderful and frustrating was his kind heart. Here I was trying to blow him off, but he was still concerned about me.
I’ll be fine
You probably will be but that doesn’t mean I’m not still worried
Frustrating but so damn lovable.
No need to worry. All is good
Ok but maybe I can bring you dinner later?
Fucking hell. He was really testing me and he didn’t even know it. I typed out several responses, deleting each of them. When I couldn’t decide what I wanted to say, I put the phone down and got dressed.
After making myself a cup of coffee, I sent my boss an email since I knew he checked it on the weekends. Next, I went online to schedule an appointment with a therapist. Luckily, they were able to fit me in on Monday.
Once those tasks were done, I finally responded to Coop. I was tempted to take him up on his offer to bring dinner over because I wanted to see him, but I was still embarrassed about everything.
I already have plans
The second I hit send, I regretted my answer, but I knew it was better this way. At least that’s what I told myself.
Ok. Have a good day then
It was impossible to read tone through text, but the way he worded his message made me feel as though he was disappointed by my answer.
You too
An hour later,I walked up to my parents’ front door. Before I could enter, it swung open, and my mom pulled me into her warm embrace.
“Mom, I can’t breathe,” I teased.
She pulled back a little, keeping her hands on my shoulders and looked me over. “Well, it doesn’t look like you broke anything. Come inside and have some breakfast. We can talk while we eat.”
I followed her to the small table in the kitchen and took a seat while she grabbed me a plate. Mom rarely fussed over me, so I knew she was worried.
