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“No; I just got off the phone with Mom.”
“Is she doing better?” I haven’t heard any news since she told me she made it through surgery.
“Yeah, she’s at home and doing well.”
“Good; I’m glad to hear that. Well, I have a question for you.”
There’s a couple beats of silence before she asks, “What is it?”
“Is Melissa single?”
Another short silence. “Yeah; why?”
“I have a friend—”
“The guy from the restaurant?” she interrupts.
“Yeah. His name is Ben and long story short, he wants us to go on a double date with you and Melissa. Do you think y’all would be up for that?” Besides, we could so go for a fun date before shit gets serious again because it’s bound to get there. We’re going to have to talk soon, too.
“I think so. When are you thinking?”
“Tonight if y’all are free?”
“I’m going to have to lie to Melissa. She doesn’t like a guy thinking she’s free short notice. Let me call her and I’ll text you.”
“Sounds good.”
We hang up and a few minutes later, Brittany says they’re in. I call Ben.
“We have dates.”
“Thank goodness. Where are we taking them?” he asks.
“That’s for you to figure out. You wanted the date. I’ll tell them to be ready by seven. You can meet me here and we’ll pick them up at Brittany’s.”
“All right, all right. Text me your address.”
Once I get off the phone with him, I glance down at Lily who is lying next to me. “Looks like you’re all alone tonight, girl.” She turns her head away from me. I’ll have to give her a treat when I get back to make up for it. In the meantime, I have a date to get ready for. Hopefully, Ben will come through on where we’re taking the girls.
Trace and Ben should be here any minute and I’m in the middle of a panic attack. My heart is pounding so fast, I’m certain it’s the reason my chest hurts like a SOB. My hands are clammy. I’m sweating through my shirt. I can’t quite catch my breath and I’m starting to feel faint. Trace wants to go on a date after I almost slept with someone else. He wants to forgive me. He wants to work things out. He wants us to go on a date with Melissa and Ben.
What if I can’t get rid of the attack in time and we’re late? What if I have another one during the date and I make a bad impression with Ben? I don’t know how close they are and how important his opinion is to Trace. Why hasn’t Trace yelled at me yet? Where is his anger over what I did, what I almost did, what I would’ve done? I can’t do this!
I hear Melissa talking as well as two other voices. I escaped to my bathroom as soon as I felt the claws of anxiety digging in. Damn it! They’re here! It’s not over yet! I can’t walk out now! Two minutes pass. I know because I count to sixty twice, and I had trouble focusing enough to remember each number that followed the previous one. Footsteps come this way. They sound too heavy to be Melissa.
A light rap s
ounds on the door, high above my head since I’m sitting on the floor, leaning against the door.
“Britt?”
I’m both relieved and terrified that it’s Trace. Why? He’s seen me like this before. My mouth is too dry to reply. I scoot out of the way and unlock the door with a trembling hand. He pushes the door open. His gaze falls on me, his hand out and waiting for me to take it. I do and he pulls me up. Without any hesitation, he pulls me against his chest and holds me tight.
“This is going to be a fun, easy date,” he begins softly. “No pressure. No problems. No too much thinking. It’s just going to be us, two of our friends, and a bunch of heavy balls.”
That last bit is unexpected, making me laugh and look up at him. “What?”
“Ben’s best idea was bowling. It’s no surprise that he can’t find a date with lazy and uncreative ideas like that.” One corner of his mouth lifts before falling away. “Are you doing okay or do you need a few more minutes?”
