Page 28 of Her Age Gap Match

Answered immediately and rolled back onto my back.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi.” His deep voice made my chest tighten, made me bite my lip.

“What are up to?” I asked.

“Just taking a look at my schedule for the week.” I heard him move on the other end of the line, maybe putting down a glass. “Wondering when I get to see this girl again.”

My heart did something completely embarrassing.

"This girl has work tomorrow," I said. "Nine o'clock."

"Mm." A pause. "Tuesday?"

"I could do Tuesday."

"Tuesday," he said, like he was writing it down somewhere. Maybe he was. "What time are you done?"

"Five, usually. Sometimes six if Sophie has evening consults."

"I'll pick you up at seven," he said. "Wherever you want to go."

"Okay." I was smiling at my ceiling like an idiot. "Where are you taking me?"

"Haven't decided yet." Another pause, and I heard the particular quiet of his apartment—the same quiet I'd been in two nights ago, that small warm space that smelled like garlic and old wood and something that was just him. "What are you doing right now?"

"Lying in bed," I said. "Can't sleep."

A beat.

"Why not?"

The question landed differently than it should have. Low and even, his voice in the dark, and I was already in bed and it was late and there was nobody else in the apartment—Stevie had a night shift.

"Thinking," I said.

"About what?"

I stared at the ceiling.

"You," I said. "Mostly."

The silence that followed had a different quality than the ones before it.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Yeah."

Another, longer pause.

"Tell me," he said.

“I’m thinking…” I swallowed, let my hand wander over my thigh. I was wearing these stupid little shorts with unicorns on them. I wondered if I should lie. “I’m thinking about how silly these PJ shorts I’m wearing are.”

“I’m sure they’re perfect.”

“You have an awful lot of confidence in me.”