Page 34 of Ruined

Leo wanted my number.

Granted, this had been what I’d wanted. I mean, I hadn’t expected I was going to have any of this specifically, and I certainly hadn’t anticipated I would have gotten it with him.

But the connection.

I’d wanted that.

So even if there were some things that did concern me—namely, Leo’s ability to be able to find out about my troubled past—I wanted to explore what was in front of me.

That’s why I surprised myself completely when I said, “Sure.”

Leo pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen a few times, and held it out to me. I took the phone, typed in my number, and handed it back to him. “I’ll text you in a little bit, so you’ll have my number, too.”

I smiled at him. “Okay.”

With that, I got into my car, and Leo closed my door for me.

And when I finally drove away, I wasn’t too proud to admit that I’d looked in the rearview mirror several times before taking myself home with the world’s biggest smile on my face.

NINE

Leo

My eyes were pulled away from the television as my phone lit up on top of the counter at the same time I heard it buzz.

Something moved through me at the sight, because it was an indication that she had responded.

Hanna.

Granted, it was only just an assumption that it was her… or maybe it was wishful thinking. What were the chances she was up this early, too?

It had been a few days since I ran into her outside the post office and had lunch with her at Grant’s Deli. Ever since, I’d tried to stay in touch with her while keeping things very casual.

I realized during our lunch that with just the slightest hint of flirting, Hanna grew uncomfortable. It was never my intention to make her feel that way, so I backed off and decided this needed to go much slower.

Fortunately, she didn’t turn me down when I asked for her number, and ever since, I’d been taking my time to talk to her. I didn’t reach out every day, and I was certain to keep it to very general and easy conversation. What was nice about it was seeing Hanna really open up a bit more.

Of course, I couldn’t see her through the phone, but she certainly seemed to be much more talkative and forthcoming than she was whenever I was around her. My hope was that if she got to know me, I’d start to see her open up and be a little less shy around me.

I was certain we still weren’t quite there yet, though, because assuming this text was from Hanna, it would simply be a response to a question I’d asked her.

Hanna hadn’t exactly gotten to the point where she was comfortable reaching out to me first. I didn’t mind, though. Unless she asked me not to contact her any longer, I’d be more than happy to be the one who made the effort first.

When I got up this morning, I did just that. I sent her a text asking her how her movie night atShort and Sweetwent last night. I knew she was probably still asleep, but I sent the text anyway, because I liked the idea of her being unable to avoid thinking about me first thing in the morning.

I moved to the counter, picked up the phone, and saw that I was right. Hanna had responded.

Hanna: Nobody showed.

That text was followed by a second one with a sad face emoji.

Me: Really? That’s awful.

Hanna: Well, I only have guests in two of the homes right now, so it’s not like there’re hundreds of people here anyway.

Me: Still. That sucks. I’m happy to come to the next one.

Hanna: Yeah?

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