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“I’ll call you in a few days, set something up,” she says, hugging me quickly before taking a few steps back.
“Love you, Tess.” I smile before climbing into the driver’s seat of my car.
“Love you more.” She blows me a kiss, waving as I back out of my parking spot and pull away.
“Save me.” It’s the first thing I hear Ant say when I silence the ringer on my cell and quickly answer.
“That bad?” I laugh.
“If I have to listen to that fucking headboard knock against my wall one more time, I think I’m gonna fucking lose it,” he groans. “Those two have been going at it for three days solid. I swear to God I don’t even think they’ve come out to eat.”
“Um, TMI. But thanks,” I laugh. “Now I’ve got a mental picture I’m not sure I want.”
“You have to save me.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” I question playfully.
“Go to dinner with me tonight, get me the hell out of this apartment.”
“Wish I could, but I have to work at La Belle’s tonight. Waitressing job,” I quickly add, not sure if I actually ever told him where I waitress.
“What about after?”
“I don’t get off until ten, and then I’ll have to go pick up Jack,” I say, apology lining my words.
“You’re killing me here, Bree.” The gruff tone of his voice causes my skin to prickle. Jesus, even his voice has me tied up in knots.
“I’m sorry. I can’t help that I have to work to support my child,” I snip jokingly.
“God, why the fuck do you have to be so responsible? Why can’t you just say fuck it and let’s go paint the town red the way we used to.”
“I wish I could,” I say, and damn it if I don’t.
It would be so easy to just blow everything off and pretend for just one night that I’m actually twenty-two and not the eighty-year-old I sometimes feel like.
“So, I haven’t told you this yet, but I have an interview at Thoma Technologies next week.” He completely shifts gears which throws me off for a second.
“What? Really?” I squeak, a little too excitedly.
If he’s interviewing for jobs, that means he’s decided to stay. I wish I could say this fact doesn’t send my mind reeling in an entirely new direction, but that simply wouldn’t be the truth.
I’ve thought about Ant way more than I care to admit over the last few days, and now learning that he’s decided to stay—I’m fairly certain this can only mean trouble for me. And yet, in some weird way, a part of me doesn’t care. Because selfishly I want him here, no matter what that means for me or for us.
“Yep. It’s not my dream job, but it’s working with computer software so at least my hundred thousand dollar degree isn’t going completely to waste.”
“A hundred thousand?” I gawk. “My online degree was like thirty-five.”
“Oh, that’s just what I financed.” He chuckles. “Add in my partial football scholarship and grants and it totaled well over two hundred and fifty thousand when everything was all said and done.”
“You realize that’s outrageous, right?”
“Boston College isn’t cheap,” he agrees. “Which is why I’m not being super selective when it comes to nailing down employment. Besides, I’ve gotta start somewhere.”
“So you said it’s not your dream job, what is?” I question.
“I want to work more on the developing side of things, but with no real experience outside of school it’s hard to find someone willing to give you an in. If I get the job, I’ll be testing and running quality assurance for the software that’s already developed.”
“But that’s good too, right? I mean, getting to learn other areas of the process?”
