Maybe Now (Maybe #2)(73)

“A guy Maggie likes. She didn’t think he’d call back.”

I look at Bridgette, and she’s looking at me expectantly now. “Well, answer it,” she says, waving at my phone, annoyed with me.

“Maggie, answer it!” Sydney says. I love how she sounds just as nervous as I am.

I swallow my nerves, clear my throat and then slide my finger across the screen.

I walk toward the bedroom, slip inside, and close the door. “Hello?” It doesn’t matter that I cleared my throat before I said that. My voice still shakes with my nerves.

“Hi.”

I let my head fall back against the bedroom door when I hear his voice. I feel it in every part of me.

“Sorry I put you through to voicemail earlier,” he says. “I was in a meeting. Forgot to silence my phone.”

His admission makes me smile. At least it wasn’t because he was annoyed that I called.

“It’s okay,” I say. “How have you been?”

He sighs. “Good. I’m good. You?”

“Also good. I moved to Austin a few days ago, so I’ve been busy.”

“You moved?” he asks, not expecting that response from me. “That’s…unfortunate.”

I walk over to my bed and sit down. “Not really. I have a rule against dating anyone in the same zip code, so it’s a good thing. Keeps things from becoming overwhelming.”

He laughs. “Maggie, I’m too busy to be overwhelming, even if we lived on the same street.”

“I don’t think you can help but be a little overwhelming, Jake. We’ve had sex. You’re hardly underwhelming.”

I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. His voice is quiet when he says, “I’m glad you called.”

“Me, too.” I lie back on my bed, pressing a hand to my stomach. I haven’t been this nervous talking to a guy…ever. I don’t know how to process all the things his voice does to my stomach, so I just press my hand against it as if that will somehow calm the storm brewing inside me.

“I can’t talk long,” he says. “I’m still at work. But I want to say something before I go.”

I blow out a quiet breath, preparing for the impact of his rejection. “Okay,” I whisper.

He sighs heavily. “I feel like you don’t know what you want. You agree to go out with me, but you tell me on our date you don’t want to see me for a second time. But then we have an entire night of incredible sex. Then you kick me out the next morning before I’m even finished cooking breakfast. A few days later you show up at my office, then you shoot me down the same day at the hospital. Now you’re leaving me a voicemail. I’m not asking for anything other than a little consistency. Even if that consistency is agreeing to never speak again. I just… I need consistency.”

I close my eyes, nodding to myself. He’s right. He’s so right, I’m surprised he even called me back. “I can respect that. And I can give you that.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment. I like the quiet. It’s almost as if I can feel him more in the quiet. Almost half a minute goes by without either of us saying a word. “I’ve wanted to call you every day.”

Those words make me frown more than smile because I know exactly what he’s been feeling, and I don’t feel good for making him feel that way. “I’ve wanted to apologize to you every day,” I admit.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything,” he says. “You’re a woman who was certain you didn’t want a relationship with anyone. But then you met me and we had such a great night together that your feelings confused you. I like that I was the guy who put a wrinkle in your plan.”

I laugh. “You have a really unique way of looking at my extreme indecisiveness. I like it.”

“I figured you would. Listen, I have to go,” he says. “Want me to call you tonight?”

“Actually…are you busy tomorrow?”

“I have a lecture at the hospital I have to attend tomorrow. From eight to ten. But I’m free after that.”

“You’re free the whole day?”

“The whole day,” he says.

I don’t know that I’ve ever asked a guy on a date before. This might be a first. “I’m going with some friends to Georgetown tomorrow. To Inner Space Cavern. You can come if you want. Or we could just do something after if you think going to look at caves with people you’ve never met before is a little weird.”

“Won’t be weird if you’re there. I can be in Austin by noon at the latest.”

I’m smiling like an idiot. “Okay. I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay,” he says. I can almost hear the smile in his voice, too. “See you tomorrow, Five Hundred.”

I stare at the phone after he ends the call, fingering my smile. How does he fill me so full of feels, even over the phone?

.They all look at me as I get to the living room and Sydney pauses mid-chew. After I grab two tacos out of the sack in the kitchen I say, “We might have to take two cars tomorrow so we’ll all fit.”

It’s all I say, but when I look over at Sydney, she’s smiling.

So is Bridgette, but her smile is a little more sinister. “This should be fun. A shiny new toy for Warren to break in.”