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“Really?” I sat back, considering that. From the way he’d always talked, I thought his relationship was always so solid. I just naturally pictured him waking up next to her and saying it every morning. “Huh.”
“What?” he asked, watching my bewildered expression.
“Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “It’s just extremely apparent to me that you’re crazy about her, so I can’t imagine that she didn’t already have a clue. How did she react?”
Parker winced. “I’m, uh, I’m not sure. I got scared and hung up on her before she could.”
Wow. He really was terrified of being rejected. “And she didn’t try to call back?”
“Oh yeah. She did. Repeatedly. And then she texted. But I hid my phone from myself. Hell, she might’ve even come over to check on me, but I passed out before that. I’m pretty sure someone was there; they took my shoes off for me—’cause I certainly don't remember taking them off—and they set them nice and neat next to the door to my room where I never put them.”
“See.” I brightened, nudging his arm. “She does care.”
“I know she cares,” he reluctantly admitted, “I just don’t know if it’s as much as I want her to.”
“Well, you’re never going to find out unless you ask her.”
He groaned and tossed his head back. “But I’m just so fucking—”
The ringing of a phone from his sports bag cut him short. He sliced his gaze that way and paled.
“Answer it,” I encouraged.
He turned back to me, already breathing shallowly. “What if it’s her?”
“Then definitely answer it.” Spotting his phone tucked into a side pocket, I turned spontaneously bold and lunged forward, snagging it up.
“Hey—”
“It’s her,” I said, showing him the screen, where the letter B showed up as the caller. Apparently, since she was such a secret, he couldn’t even type her whole name into his address book.
“Shit!” He wiped his hands over his face, visibly shaking. “I’m not ready. I don’t know what to say.”
“Start with hello.” And I slid the little call button over, answering it for him.
His eyes flared with disbelief. If he killed me for this afterward, it’d be worth it. But I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing while he lost his Bea.
Keeping his gaze, I held the phone out.
He closed his eyes briefly, then took it from my hand.
“Hello?” His voice cracked so bad he couldn’t even get the full word out.
He listened for a moment before snapping his gaze up to me in a panic. “You want me to come over right now?”
“Yes!” I whispered, waving my hands to urge him to take her up on her offer. “Go.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. I can be there in a few minutes.”
“See.” I nudged his shoulder as he hung up. “She wants to see you. This is good.”
“Or she just wants to break it off for good in person.” His complexion was tinged green; I wondered if he might actually vomit.
“It’ll be okay,” I assured him. I mean, what else could I say? That it could all just as easily go to hell in a handbasket? That kind of attitude wouldn’t help at all. And even if things did fall apart, it wouldn't matter if I’d been reassuring beforehand or not; he’d still have to deal with the fallout the same no matter what kind of platitudes I had offered.
“You can do this.”
He nodded as if boosting his own confidence. And then he pushed to his feet. “Okay. I’ll see you later, then.”
