Chapter Seven
Joey
Batter Up
Patrick responded in the middle of the night, our time, with the location of my spare key. By the time I was out of bed this morning, the key had magically appeared on the counter with a note from Theo.
Stumbling into the kitchen, I poured a mug of coffee before picking both up.
The note reads:
Your key, madam.I had to head to an early audition. Woody’s been fed. May need to go outside. Would you mind?
Thanks. Hope to see you later.
Theo
I glance down at the wiggly dog at my feet and sigh.
“Why are all the good one’s either taken or batting for the other team, Woods? It’s so unfair.”
The dog obviously doesn’t care much about my love life and circles around by the door before he plops his butt down and sits, staring up at me with expectant brown eyes, hoping to win me over with his cute puppy dog face.
“Really, dude? I just got out of bed,” I grumble, taking a final swig of the coffee before placing it in the sink. “Let me go get dressed and then we’ll swing by my place first. Then we’ll go to the park. How’s that?”
Woody does another wiggly dance and I can’t help but smile. Damn dog.
We head over to my place where I change into shorts and a t-shirt and my running shoes, and make our way down to the street. The summer heat is fairly tolerable this morning and feels actually cool. Not bad for this time of year. Come July, even Hell will feel like a vacation destination.
Woody and I begin walking through the neighborhood, passing the charming shops and coffee houses, where people mill about. It makes me wonder how Theo is doing with his audition and wonder if it’s with that theater company he was talking about last night.
I didn’t mean to be a snoopy-snooperson when I began reading his play last night, but it was right there on the coffee table taunting me. I couldn’t sleep a wink, and tossed and turned for several hours – both from the heat and knowing I was sleeping next door to a very hot man. I could literally feel the zaps of electricity charging through my amped body after he got me flustering from dinner and wine.
Regardless of his sexuality, he’s still a very sexy man and left me a little breathless at bedtime.
So instead of remaining restless and unable to sleep, I got out of bed and wandered into the living room, in search of something to occupy my brain. And there it was, sitting open for me to pluck off the table and into my greedy hands.
I was sucked in from the very first scene and page. His characters are laugh-out-loud funny and their romantic build up was enough to have my itty-bitty parts tingling. I can’t imagine what it would look like all played out for a live audience.
As I round the street corner, my phone vibrates in my back pocket. The park is in sight and I know Woody is anxious to get there because his whole body flails and wiggles with anticipation.
“I know, buddy. I know. Just hold your horses for a minute,” I mutter, pulling the phone out to check the caller ID.
My legs stop moving and the leash jerks as my arm flies out with the force of Woody’s momentum coming to an abrupt halt.
It’s April calling. While we don’t talk too often outside of school, we have on occasion grabbed coffee or brunch together on the weekends. So it’s not all that surprising to hear from her.
I give Woody a brief look of apology before answering the call. “Hi April. How’s it going?”
It’s then that I hear a sob on the other end of the phone line. My heart rate spikes and my adrenalin pumps into my veins as I jump into panic mode.
“April? Are you okay? What’s the matter?”
She hiccups on the line, takes a breath and then seems to gain her composure.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Joey…but I don’t know who else to talk to.”
Oh God, if she’s calling for relationship advice, she’s called the wrong friend. The last relationship I had was when I was in college and was really only a three-month investment. There was no undying love professed or commitment involved, aside from offering to share our lecture notes.
