Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(43)

“It wasn’t the right choice. I see that now. I was young and at the time it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter until… well until I went to the Bahamas and then suddenly it did.”

I stop eating during his speech, too engrossed in the words and wondering if they’re true or not. There’s still so much wrong with what he’s said and questions fly around before I catch one to ask.

“Why? We didn’t plan to see each other again.”

“I know. Not getting your phone number was also stupid.” He laughs once. “I thought there wasn’t a chance with us, but all of a sudden you were here and there was this possibility of an actual relationship. It wasn’t something I’d considered in my past.”

“You’ve never considered a relationship before?” I continue to dodge around using any word of significance to reference what we’re talking about.

Trey laughs. “No. Men aren’t like women. We don’t start planning our weddings at eight.”

His words bring the first smile to my face since I sat down and I shake my head. “I hadn’t planned my wedding.”

The conversation between us stalls as Trey runs out of words and I still have too many questions to ask. The quiet of our table is overpowered by the noise in the diner, and I look around for the first time in a while to see the place filled with people.

We should leave and open the table up, but there’s one more question I need to ask before I’ll walk out the door. “If you had all those revelations, why were you with Mari at the autism benefit?”

Trey recognizes the conversation is over and pulls out his wallet, throwing some bills on the table as another tip for the new person since we’ve taken up a money making spot.

“Honestly? I’d forgotten about Mari.”

I cock my head to the side and give him a disbelieving look.

“It’s true. I was riding this high from this beautiful girl practically falling back into my life and put Mari out of my mind. She called me Thursday morning to remind me and I didn’t want to back out with such short notice. I was trying to do the right thing.”

I scoff at his attempt to play the hero. “And yesterday?”

“Well I was pissed for a few days, but I finally figured out you didn’t use me to gain an account. That’s when I started to text and call." Trey tilts his head at his mention of the times he tried to contact me and I deleted them before listening. In my defense, I had bigger problems to deal with. “Then I was pissed because you wouldn’t answer.”

“I told Mari the night of the benefit that it would be our last event together. I couldn’t keep up the fa?ade. Apparently she didn’t believe me because she called last week. She wanted to set up our schedules for next year. Yesterday was my attempt to remind her she needed to find herself a new playmate.”

The line for the diner now stretches past the window beside us so I stand to give our table to the next person. The seven hours Trey’s occupied it today seems like enough. He follows behind me with a hand on my lower back, and for some reason, I don’t walk faster or force him to remove it.

We step out the door past the people and Trey leads me to the right. “Let me drive you home.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


I’m a moron. It’s the single explanation for why I’m even considering leaving the apartment on my Friday off.

“You’ve already agreed to go, so you’ll have to come out sometime.” Aspen slumps against the bathroom counter beside me.

“Why did I agree to it?”

She jumps up to sit on the counter and leans against the mirror while giving me the once over. “Tell me again what happened in his car.”

My face heats at the allegation in her question. “We walked four blocks so he could drive me home two.” I still can’t get over the fact he drives the little car around even with parking. “Then we talked.”

“Uh huh. You ‘talked.’” She air quotes talked. “Remember I was here when you tried to sneak in the door that night.”

I’ve already explained this twice, but I try once more to make Aspen believe me. “I’m not kidding. I told him about my mom and the job thing." I don’t mention I cried for most of that conversation and Trey sat quietly beside me and rubbed my back. It was sweet, which is concerning. I can’t afford to start considering Trey sweet. "Then he walked me to the door.”

“And the goodnight kiss?” Both her eyebrows raise at the question.

I sigh. “A quick one. One the forehead.”

Aspen leans forward. “Tongue?”

“No, there was no tongue on my forehead.” I laugh at her serious expression.

“Well tongue or not, your outfit looks cute. The red sweater looks good with your hair and complexion.” She jumps off the counter and walks toward the kitchen.

I follow her. “The jeans are okay?” I’m a little self-conscious about my wardrobe choice, but a simple sweater and dark wash jeans felt like a good answer for a date with Trey. A date that I’m not sure is a date considering neither of us used the word. Technically he texted and asked to take me to a quick dinner tonight. That’s a date right?

“Yes, I’m serious. You look good.”