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Tate: I didn’t mean for it to play out that way. Like I said, I didn’t even know we were going to the game until he picked me up.
* * *
Grant: You didn’t have to bring him down onto the field. You didn’t have to introduce me to him.
* * *
Tate: I agree. That wasn’t my best moment. Even so, you didn’t have to intimidate him like that. I mean you’re not exactly innocent here!
Grant doesn’t say anything to this, and his silence starts eating away at me.
Tate: We agreed this was a bad idea. I thought we were on the same page.
No response.
I groan in annoyance and drop my phone onto my nightstand, wishing I could just throw it right out the window. I’m not doing a great job of defusing this situation, but I can’t help it! Introducing Grant to Michael obviously backfired, but that’s not all on me. I didn’t realize Grant would come out guns blazing—I didn’t think I mattered all that much to him!
However, in the long run, it could be a good thing Grant met Michael tonight. Maybe now it’ll start to sink in for both of us that we aren’t meant to be together.
I look at my phone again, but there’s no response from Grant.
I check incessantly for the next hour, and then finally, when I’m annoyed and ashamed by how lovesick I feel, I plug my phone into a charger across the room, out of reach, crawl into bed, and turn off my light.
The next morning, I go out on a run before the sun has fully risen. I didn’t sleep well and there’s no better way to tire out my whirring mind than by getting some miles in. On the second leg, when I’m nearing Luke’s house, I slow my pace and start my cooldown. There’s a coffee shop nearby that I love so I stop in to pick up my usual order: to-go lattes for Luke, Chloe, and me and a hot chocolate topped with whipped cream for Harper.
My family isn’t surprised to find me on their doorstep. I’m usually over here on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I bring bagels, sometimes breakfast tacos. One thing’s for sure, I never come empty-handed.
“Tate’s here!” Harper calls, bounding into the foyer to see what I’ve brought. I find Chloe in the living room watching a morning show. Harper’s Barbies are set up on the coffee table in front of her.
“Hot chocolate,” I say, holding the cup up out of Harper’s reach for a second. “Be careful, I think it still needs to cool off a bit.”
“I’ll take Dad his coffee,” she volunteers. “He’s still sleeping.”
“Really?”
It’s nearly 9 AM.
I look over at Chloe and she shrugs, though I think I detect a faint blush on her cheeks. “Late night, I guess…”
I nearly gag. “Say no more. Here, vanilla latte.”
She greedily accepts the cup before she retreats back to her comfy spot on the couch. “You’re the best. I was about to drag myself into the kitchen to make myself coffee, but I couldn’t muster up the energy.”
Harper dashes off to deliver Luke’s latte, and when she returns, she’s laughing. “He growled at me to leave him alone! He must be so tired! Did you and Dad stay up and watch a movie last night, Chloe?”
Chloe clears her throat. “Yes. Yes, exactly. A late-night movie.”
I’m about to stick my fingers in my ears to block out the rest of this conversation, and Chloe realizes. She shifts topics. “I can’t believe you already got your run in. Do you have a shift at the hospital later today or something?”
I shake my head. “I’m off until tomorrow. Then I work three days in a row.”
Today, I’ll go to the grocery store, clean the apartment from top to bottom (including the inside of our refrigerator), get through some laundry, drop off dry cleaning, make dinner for Daphne and Sophia, maybe catch a yoga class. Y’know just a casual Sunday…
Harper comes to stand in front of me with a pouty lower lip and her hands laced together in a plea. “Now can I drink my hot cocoa?”
I check and it’s still piping hot.
“Here, go put some ice cubes in it, they’ll help cool it off faster.”
She dashes off, and the moment she’s out of earshot, Chloe leans closer to me. “What was going on last night with Grant and Michael? Just so you know, your brother isn’t that obtuse. That was so weird! I didn’t even realize you knew Grant.”
“Just barely,” I say, focusing on the lid of my drink.
“So the two of you aren’t…”
“No.”
“There’s nothing going on?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
This isn’t even a lie. After the messages last night, we might not even have a friendship anymore.
She nods. “Okay, if Luke brings it up, I’ll tell him that.” Then she pauses for a second and lowers her voice even more. “Though if there were something going on with you two…I mean…between you and me…” She fans her face dramatically like she’s trying to cool herself off. “The man is insanely gorgeous.”
