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“How do you know that she hasn’t been waiting on you to come out and say it?” Jonas asked, shifting to the side to prop his feet up on the cushions beside him.
I ran my fingers through my damp hair. “How do I know she wants to hear that from me in the first place? And if she did, how do I know she still wants to now?”
“Okay, put it this way. Do you think Becker is right for her?” Jonas wasn’t giving up, but his beer was beginning to run low.
“Of course not,” I replied as I stood to grab another pair of beers from the refrigerator.
He took the new beer from my hand as I held it out to him. “And you’re okay just letting her go, never knowing what would have happened if you had just taken a chance?”
I sat back in my recliner again. Since when had Jonas gotten so wise? I didn’t answer, but I didn’t have to. My eyebrows furrowed, betraying my inner frustration, as I looked ahead at nothing.
“All I’m saying is, what have you got to lose at this point?”
I nodded in agreement.
Jonas didn’t press anything further, and the conversation changed to various replays of that night’s game among other safe topics before Jonas finally took off right before midnight.
After he left, I powered off all the lights and went to lie down. It had been a long, draining week, and that night had been the most exhausting of them all.
I scrolled through my phone briefly before finally pulling up the messaging app. I typed out a message to Zia.
Me: You awake?
Zia: I am.
Me: Sor
ry about earlier. I didn’t mean to come across as a jerk.
Zia: Don’t think that way. You weren’t a jerk.
She was killing me.
Me: When is my last session?
Zia: You’re still interested?
Me: Yes
Zia: I guess we can try tomorrow night if you aren’t busy.
Me: Tomorrow night it is. Meet me at the Book Shelf at 7?
Zia: Ok
Me: Goodnight
Zia: Goodnight
It was a last-ditch effort with a slim chance of success. Maybe it would work, and maybe it wouldn’t. One thing was certain; Jonas was right. I had nothing to lose.
But everything to gain.
CHAPTER 11: ZIA
I sat at a table at the Book Shelf alone, still a good fifteen minutes away from the final showdown when Dylan would arrive to have his final session.
Even after taking my time getting ready tonight, I was early. I decided that an iced tea would suffice today, still turning a little red in the cheeks at the thought of the last time I had been here, all the alcohol I had drunk, and subsequently, the major fool I had made of myself directly following.
