Page 31 of Tempting Fate

“She was mad about it. Is mad about it.” I shake my head when Patch frowns. “It’s justified. Think about her like your sister. What would Millie say if you just took off because you thought you might get a better job opportunity?”

Patch winces. “Yeah, okay,” he concedes. “She hasn’t called at all?”

“It’s only been a week. I’m going to talk to her tonight, anyway.” I need to, after this, but I don’t say that part aloud. “She’ll be fine. I think. She gives me shit but only when I deserve it.”

“I guess it’s good to have a friend like that.”

I snort. “Does Dax not do that to you?”

“Way too nice,” Patch says, shaking his head, but he’s smiling again. “Well, he has his own way of going about it, I guess. And Vince is a terrible influence.”

“Really?”

“Nah. They’re perfect for each other.”

He says it so easily that I’m honestly surprised. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone say two people were perfect for each other, or at least, not like that. Like it’s a fact. Like it comes as easily as breathing.

“You think so?”

“I know—” Patch cuts himself off quickly. “Yeah, I do.”

“Huh. Well, that’s good. They seem happy together.”

I’ve actually never seen a couple quite like them. If they hadn’t said on Saturday how long they’d been together, I would have assumed years, maybe decades, even though they’re both clearly in their thirties. They’re so… in tune with each other.

I chance a look at Patch, who’s looking right back at me. Do I have a chance like that with him? Fierce longing grips me, one that I’ve never experienced before.

Do I have a chance like that with Jamie?

I feel suddenly out of my depth. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all. Maybe I should have listened to my intuition. I believe Jamie could want me to go, but I could still say no because it won’t lead anywhere good for me.

Patch reaches carefully across the table. His fingers brush mine. Despite my sudden doubts, I don’t move my hand away.

I reach for him instead, and he lets out a shaky breath when our fingers tangle together. I swallow hard. I can’t explain it either, only this is perhaps the most chaste way we could touch and yet I want no one else to see the intimacy of it. I grip his fingers a little tighter.

“This was a good idea, right?” I ask. I need the assurance, need to be certain that I’m not wrong. “Coming out on a date together?”

“Yeah, of course. Did someone make you think it wasn’t?”

“No. No, I—” I let out a breath, releasing some of the tension with it. “I’m in my own head, I think. It’s been a while since I went on a date.”

“Well, I’ve had fun,” Patch says. He signals for the bill with his free hand, the other one never letting go of mine. “Can we do it again? Soon?”

I laugh at his eagerness, but it’s not mean, and he seems to know it. I’m caught up in him again, giddy and excited, but there’s still that voice in the back of my head—sounding much like Cate—telling me to slow down, take it easy.

“Yeah,” I say and push that feeling to the forefront. I have work to do. I don’t want to ruin the friendship I’m developing with Jamie or Nick. “Next Monday?”

To his credit, Patch doesn’t look disappointed that it’ll be a week before we see each other again. “It’s a date.”