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I bite my lip, shaking my head and grabbing my drink. “I hate you.”
Thursday, Dec. 17
“Soooo…?” Tiff asks, shimming her shoulders at me.
“What?” I laugh.
She shoves my shoulder. “C’mon! Spill! Are you guys dating now?”
“Not really.” I try to play it off, but I know she’s not going to buy it. I already told her about our whole “Thursdays” deal, but I guess she wasn’t expecting it to last a whole three weeks.
I sneak a peek over at Declan at the bar with Ken. The guys went to grab us more drinks at the bar since the place is crammed full for happy hour today. He catches me looking. He always does.
I sip the remaining alcohol from my drink to avoid having to say any more. I know she won’t let it slide, but I’m not sure what to say about it. I don’t even know how I feel about it. Well, sort of.
I miss him. That’s the part I wasn’t expecting. The week drags until Thursday. Now that I don’t get to see him almost every day at work, I find myself thinking about him. We’ve texted or talked every day since last Thursday. I desperately tried to wait to reply to him, but it’s like a drug every time I see his name pop up on my phone. I want to know what he’s doing. I want to be a part of his life.
That’s the part that scares me the most. It’s not the flirting or the romance or even the sex honestly. I’m scared of losing the mundane. I’m scared of suddenly not knowing what he’s eating for lunch today or not being able to tell him about the traffic this morning because of the accident on the highway. I’m scared of getting comfortable and then losing that.
“Does he know that?” Tiff asks, nodding over at the men.
I turn around again, and Declan’s still looking this way. I can’t help my smile as I turn back to Tiff. “Yes. He knows exactly how I feel. I’ve told him everything.”
“If you say so,” she says with a smirk.
“Ladies,” Ken says as they hand us our drinks.
“Thank you,” we both say in unison, but then Tiffany gives me a suspicious look.
She pats Ken’s shoulder. “You know I just remembered I have to get up early tomorrow for a meeting, so we’re going to take off after this drink.”
Ken looks at her funny. “You do? Since when?”
She elbows him in the side like he’s giving away their secrets. “Yeah, let’s do this again though when we have more time. Maybe on the weekend next time?” she asks, making it totally obvious that she wants me to stop being dumb and actually see the man when I want instead of only on Thursdays.
They leave soon after finishing their drinks, leaving me alone with Declan again. He gives me a soft smile. “Do you want to stay awhile or I can call you an Uber?”
I bring my straw up to my mouth. “You’re not coming home with me?”
His whole face lights up. “Uh… yeah, of course. That’s what I meant.”
“Is it?” I laugh. “C’mon, let’s go.”
We head over to the front, waiting for our car to arrive. He looks nervous all of a sudden like he’s not sure what to say. “Uhm… so about next week. Uh… are you going to be free all day?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
He takes a deep breath in. “You know, Christmas eve and all.”
“Oh, right. Uhm…”
He sighs at my hesitancy. “My family does brunch every year. I would like for you to come with me, but I understand if you say no.”
“You want me to come to your family’s Christmas?” I repeat back to him, still trying to process it. “Like with Mack?”
“Yeee-ah, my twin brother and best friend will be at my family’s Christmas brunch…”
I burst into laughter. “Yeah, okay.”
