Page 31 of The Intimacy of Control

chapter twelve

I’d blown Callum off this morning in favor of going to the clinic so I could have an STI panel run. The lady who took my blood was really nice, even though I was incredibly difficult due to my deathly fear of needles. All it took was spending a few days in the hospital to give me that phobia. I’d never had it before then.

Now? I went pale at the mere sight of them. I was pretty sure it had to be in my chart at this point, with how many times I’d passed out from getting blood drawn or getting a shot.

I looked down at my phone, opening the notification while I waited for the walk signal to turn green.

Cal

Come to fire and ice.

Maybe another day. I have plans

Cal

Asshole. Thought you valued our friendship.

I do. I value you, and I value our friendship, but I have plans

Cal

Same guy?

I rolled my eyes at the message.

Don’t start. That’s mean

Cal

Nope. Call me later.

Maybe I won’t. Since you don’t value our friendship.

Cal

Ass.

He loved me. He had no choice but to love me.

I finally got to Pride and Pages, looking up at the pink outside and trying to conjure up some courage to go inside. I wondered if Forrest would be wearing his glasses again. I kind of hoped he was.

After far too long trying to convince myself to open the door, I finally did, listening to the chime as I walked in. The guy I’d seen the other day with the shimmery lips looked up, smiling. “Welcome to Pride and Pages! Is there somewhere I can point you to, or are you browsing?”

“Um,” I shifted on my feet. “I was looking for Forrest, if he’s available.”

“Sure! He’s gathering some stuff in the back. Let me see if he’s good to come out.”

“Okay. Tell him Jack is here.”

He went off to the side, going behind a door that read ‘Employees Only.’ I took the chance to browse through some of the books on big tables at the front. They had a lot more copies of the same book on them, like they were being showcased for something special.

It didn’t take long before Forrest was walking up to me, glasses sitting on top of his head with a big smile. “Hey. Andros told me some cutie was looking for me out here, and I knew it had to be you.”

Rolling my eyes, I set one of the books I’d picked up back on the table. “I told him to tell you Jack was here.”

“He did. He also said you were some cute guy named Jack. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here? I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I should’ve texted. Sorry.” We’d finally shared phone numbers after our last day together. We hadn’t texted much, though. “I was out already and thought I’d stop by. Maybe we can have lunch or something?”