Worth Saving(28)

I read the message to myself again before reading it aloud to Jason.

“It says, ‘Hi. How have you been?’ I don’t recognize the . . .”

All of a sudden, it suddenly dons on me who the text is from.

“Oh shit.” I exclaim, grabbing the attention of the mother who’s sitting next to us with her two young kids.

“What?”

“I think this is from Layla.”

“And who is Layla?”

“Layla’s a girl I met not too long ago. We’ve been kicking it a little lately.”

I type up a response to the message, just to make sure.

Me: I’m great. Is this who I think it is?

“A girl, huh? Oh shit. You got yourself a new girl, Austin?” Jason asks with a wide smile. What is it about the idea of me meeting a girl that makes people act like it’s some kind of big deal?

“I said I met a girl, I didn’t say I had a girl. We’re not dating or anything like that. We’re just getting to know each other, but she’s cool though, man. I like talking to her,” I answer, just as the phone chimes again.

“Okay. Well, I can tell from that dumb look on your face that you like her. I know how you are about relationships.”

I read the message that says that the sender is Layla, and I barely hear what Jason said. I’m too excited to listen. I quickly program her name and number into my phone, and as soon as I do, she texts again.

Layla: Sorry I called you so late last night. At least it’s not four in the morning this time.

I smile at the message and I can hear Jason chuckle in front of me.

“Look at you,” he jokes. “Looking like a little girl reading love notes in class.”

The next thing I know, Jason gets up and comes to sit down next to me so he can see the messages.

“Are you gonna smile like that the whole time?” he says, trying to distract me.

“Yeah,” is all I say in response, because I’m too busy typing away.

Me: It’s okay. I told you I don’t mind. I’m just glad we could hang out again.

“Aww, aren’t you a little ball of sweetness,” Jason jokes as I continue to type.

Me: So, what’s been up? What made you decide to hit me up now?

“Ooh, good question. She probably just broke up with her boyfriend or some shit and now she’s hitting you up as the rebound guy,” Jason says, taking another jab at me as if I can’t hear him.

“Fuck you,” I reply with a chuckle, but I’m still staring at the phone, because those little bubbles have shown up on the screen as Layla types.

Layla: Had some time to think. It’s my day off. Was wondering if maybe you’d like to hang out again.

“Damn, she’s asking you out,” Jason says right in my ear. “Never had a girl ask me out. Damn, I need to step up my game. What are you gonna say? You should tell her you’ll only go out with her if she makes up for calling you at four in the morning. Tell her she owes you, and when she asks what she owes you, you should be all, ‘That *.’”

A laugh jumps out of my mouth, and the mother of two looks over at us again, this time making sure we can see that she looks pissed about our language. I keep on laughing anyway.

“I’m not saying that shit. I’m actually interested in this girl,” I reply, still smiling.

Me: I thought you’d never ask. What’d you have in mind?

“I see, and it’s honestly a little weird to see you actually interested in a girl. If I remember correctly, you’re quite the ladies’ man yourself. You know you deploy a lot, so what’s so special about this girl?” Jason asks, finally being serious.

“I never said she was special. I just like the chick.”

“Oh my god! Are you in love already?”

“What? Of course not. I can’t be interested in a woman?”

“Of course you can, bro, it’s just out of character for you, that’s all. But it’s all good.”

The phone chimes again.

Layla: Anything you want to do is fine with me.

“Ooh, perfect opportunity,” Jason says before I can even finish reading the message. “Let me help you seal the deal on this. Just say, ‘All I wanna do is make you feel good, baby . . . with this big ole dick.’ She’ll be all over you, man. I’m telling you.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Is that how you talk to women?” I say, trying to keep from laughing as I watch the mother of two get up and lead her children out of the restaurant.

Me: Okay. I can come up with something. When?

“Actually, it is now,” Jason answers. “I told you I’ve learned from my last case. The last time I tried to get serious with a girl, she turned out to be married and accused of murder. So, I’m pretty up front with women about my intentions. I don’t do serious, and if I remember correctly, neither do you.”

Layla: Is tonight okay? Or is that too short of a notice?

“Well, times change, I guess,” I reply. “You know I’ve hooked up with a lot of girls on TDY’s and deployments, but I’m home now, and I just want to see where it goes.”

Me: Tonight’s perfect. Can I come get you at 7 o’clock?

“Wow. That’s deep, man,” Jason says with a look of surprise on his face. “And what happens when you have to deploy again?”