CHAPTER 15 #3
Scarlett let out a low whistle as several people turned to look at her.
Her fingers came up to touch her pendant, and she slid it back and forth on her chain.
Theo watched her intently, as if waiting to see her response, and while she instinctually wanted to start bashing his ex in an effort to make him feel better, she didn’t.
Instead, she decided to try something else.
“I can see why you would think that all the blame is at your feet, but she could have been at least honest with you. I doubt you bullied her into taking the job.”
“You do that a lot.”
“What?”
“Play with that thing,” he said, gesturing at her necklace.
She dropped it instantly. “Yeah. It’s a bit of a habit.”
“Was that your number?”
“My whole life, except when I played for the national team,” she said. “It’s my lucky number. I might still be playing if I had been able to wear it during that game.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
She shrugged. “That was the only game I ever played not wearing the number 9.” She squinted at him. “Don’t you know athletes are superstitious?”
He opened his mouth, but stopped. “Never mind.”
“What? What were you going to say?”
“Something that would solidify my being a bully.”
“You’re not a bully.”
“I can assure you, I am.”
“No, you’re not. You’re growly, maybe, and a bit of a grouch, but you’re not some big, scary monster. I’ve said no to you plenty of times.”
“Aye, and each time, it irritates me.”
“Which is a secondary joy I get from doing it so often,” she said flirtatiously before noticing the look on his face and clearing her throat.
Damn, it was easy to fall into it with him.
“All I’m saying is that it takes two to tango, and even if she did sense a certain pressure to stay here and felt like she couldn’t talk to you, which is in and of itself a problem, she should have at least told you when she left that it was over.
Not disappear without an explanation because it was easier for her. ”
He seemed to contemplate her words for a while.
“So, you don’t think it was my fault?”
“Not entirely. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you could be very charmless when you want to be,” she quipped, causing his eyes to light up with humor. “But you probably only show that to people you’re most comfortable with.”
“Really? Why would I do that?”
“A great question. I bet a good therapist could help you find the answer,” she said. He bumped his arm against her shoulder, and she couldn’t contain a giggle. “But really, I’m sorry that happened to you.”
He nodded. “Thanks.” He took a sip of beer. “So, what about you? Any horrible exes, or are you the horrible ex?”
“Ha. Not quite,” she said, glancing around the room. Everyone was chatting and singing along with the music. No one had appeared to notice them talking for so long, and it was nice. “My ex wasn’t horrible either. We just, didn’t work.”
“He was the one who got you this job, right?”
“Mmhmm. I mean, he gave me a great write-up, and I appreciated the opportunity. I always wanted to work with the women’s league in the U.K.
, and when the Bees told me about starting a team, I was ecstatic.
I thought we were going to do the long-distance thing, but as it turned out”—she exhaled—“this job was his parting gift.”
“What sort of idiots do they let run this sport in your country?”
“He wasn’t an idiot. He was actually one of the better higher-ups—”
“I don’t mean that,” Theo said pointedly. “I mean, who would want to send you halfway round the globe? He must be daft.”
She blinked as his words sank in, and then she looked down as a heat crept over her face.
“I was too, well…” She struggled to find the self-deprecating words.
But then she decided to share how she honestly felt about her relationship with Eric.
“Actually, no, I wasn’t too anything. All I wanted was to have an ounce of communication between us, but he was a brick wall, and maybe I came off as clingy, but really, I don’t think wanting to know what my partner is thinking is clingy.
I don’t see what the problem is in expressing what you want. And I don’t think I was too much.”
“He said you were too much?”
“Yeah, he did, but I don’t believe that I am.”
“You shouldn’t,” he said. “I mean, you are a lot, but not so much that I couldn’t handle it.”
Scarlett felt a little off kilter at his words, and she swallowed. “See? What’s so difficult about being honest?”
She thought she was going to see an understanding expression on his face, but she saw instead a heated gaze that made her breath hitch.
His flirty smirk was gone, as if all the humor of the situation had disappeared.
Every sensory response was going off within her, and Scarlett knew before he spoke what he intended.
“Is that what you want? Honesty?”
Ugh, that brogue wrapped around those words made her shiver as he leaned toward her. Not too close, so that people would suspect their conversation, but close enough that Scarlett’s knees weakened.
“Do you know what I really want, right this minute?”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “N–no,” she breathed.
Theo opened his mouth to answer, but they were interrupted by Dawson.
“Hey, Scarlett!” she said, giving her a hug. “How’s it going?”
“Great.” Scarlett’s voice cracked sightly as Theo nodded, as if to say “to be continued” as he fell back into the crowd. “I mean, great.”
Damn it. What was he going to say?
“I bet,” Dawson said, glancing in the direction Theo had disappeared. She waggled her eyebrows at Scarlett. “I guess you and Ross are getting along again.”
“Ah, yes, we are.”
“I’d say so. He was all close and whispering,” she said with a laugh. “I wonder if Mr. Wrong Number would be jealous.”
Oh. Shit. Mr. Wrong Number. Scarlett’s emotional support sexting buddy, whom she was supposed to meet in less than a week. How quickly had she forgotten about him?
Her shoulders slumped at her own lack of propriety. This situation was becoming stickier by the second. And Dawson noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Scarlett said, but Dawson wasn’t having any of it.
“Tell me.”
Scarlett sighed and put her glass on the bar. Waving her hand so the bartender didn’t refill it, she faced Dawson. “Well, I’m actually supposed to be meeting him. Soon.”
“Mr. Wrong Number? Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Scarlett whispered, twisting around to see if anyone could hear them. “And we’ve sort of been getting, I don’t know, closer, I guess, for lack of a better term. But I completely forgot about all of that just now when I was talking to Theo.”
“Closer? Closer how?”
Scarlett wobbled her head. She didn’t want to say it out loud, and thankfully, Dawson understood.
“Oh! You mean you’re sexting now?”
“Yes, and will you please keep your voice down?”
“I don’t get it. What’s the problem?”
“Well, for starters, my mind completely blanked on him when I was talking to Theo.”
Dawson blinked, not following. “And?”
“And,” Scarlett said, exasperated, glancing around the crowded room, hoping to see him, “I sort of want to see if there might be something… there.”
“With Ross?” Dawson said before her eyes went wide. She grabbed Scarlett’s hand. “Are you serious? But I thought you hated each other.”
“No. I never hated him. I mean, he was a bit rude at first, and we sort of butted heads, sure, but…” Scarlett looked down. “I don’t know. I was thinking about investigating that, but now with Mr. Wrong Number, I don’t know…”
“Oh, no, you can’t be worrying about how things might turn out with Mr. Wrong Number,” Dawson said, spinning her around. “Ross is a real person.”
“Mr. Wrong Number is real.”
“No, he isn’t. He exists in a vacuum. He’s a bodiless other floating around the ether.
You can’t not see where things lead with someone you already know in the real world.
At least, not until you meet him in the flesh.
What if he turns out to be completely different from the person you built up in your head?
Not to mention, you’re already attracted to Ross. ”
“I am not…” But the lie died on her lips with the glare Dawson was giving her. “But we’re supposed to meet each other next week—me and Mr. Wrong Number.”
“So?”
“So, don’t I owe it to him to, I don’t know, stay somewhat faithful?”
“Are you in a relationship with him? God, I hope you say no.”
“No, obviously.”
“So how can you be faithful to someone you’ve never met? I get that you’ve got a connection with the guy, but how much is real, and how much are you imagining?”
“I don’t know,” Scarlett said honestly. “You’re right. We’re not really anything. Except that I do like him.”
“Okay. That’s valid, but what about Ross?”
“I’m into him too.”
“Well, I’m not a psychologist, but don’t you think that giving it a go with someone you actually know and have spoken to in real life might be the better choice?”
“I guess.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Scarlett opened her mouth but then shut it.
The reality of it was that while she did find her relationship with Mr. Wrong Number to be comforting and genuine, she didn’t know anything about him.
Not where he worked, not where he lived, if he had a family or friends.
It was a fleeting bit of honest conversation that they’d been having over the past few months, but it was hard to define.
Meanwhile, the very real, very attractive Theo was here now, and they had been having a bit of a back-and-forth.
They had kissed, after all, and there was a real-life attraction between them.
It would be crazy to forgo that on the off chance that someone she’d never met might be a potential boyfriend. Right?
“You’re right,” Scarlett said, bobbing her head as she answered her own question. “Of course you’re right. I’d be crazy to not pursue this when I haven’t even met Mr. Wrong Number.”
“Yes, you would. Now…” Dawson spun on her heel. “Where did he go? Ah! Over there, by the darts.” Scarlett peered around her and saw Theo chuckling at something Marrero was saying. “Go, and get out of here.”
“Where are we supposed to go?”
Dawson rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Ask him if he wants to go get kabobs or something.”
“Kabobs?”
“Just go,” she said, practically pushing Scarlett through a group of football players.
Scarlett smiled and excused herself as she made her way across the room. Was she really going to do this—ask out her coworker in the middle of what was essentially a work party?
The memory of the kiss they’d shared in the gear closet flashed in her mind.
Yes. Taking a deep breath, she knew this was the right move. She needed to know what, if anything, was between them. And if things didn’t work out, that was fine too, because it wasn’t like she was in love with Theo. If anything, this was an experiment, and she was going to—
“Hey.” Theo’s deep voice sounded behind her, causing her to jump.
“Ah, hi,” she said, a little breathless.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t.”
“Listen, do you want to get out of here—grab something to eat? I mean, more than beer and wine?”
She smiled. “Like a kabob?”
Theo grinned, tilting his head. “Sure. If you’d like.”
“Yes. I mean, no to the kabob, but yes to getting out of here.”
It was probably a terrible decision, considering they worked together, but she couldn’t help it. She needed to explore this.
“Yeah?” he said, tone low and coaxing, as if he were trying to draw her out even though he didn’t need to. She had already decided to go with him. “How should we do this?”
“Uh, you can go out first, and I’ll meet you around the corner?”
“Okay. I’ll meet you outside.”
For the next five minutes, Theo made his rounds, putting on his jacket and saying good night to players and managers. He gave her a final nod before he exited the room, and Scarlett waited a whole minute—she counted the seconds—before following him out.
It was exciting and a little nerve-racking, but she couldn’t help but feel like this was what she was supposed to be doing.
Like some divine hand was guiding her to Theo, even if that was preposterous.
What sort of divinity would cheer this on?
But she reminded herself that she wasn’t in a relationship with Mr. Wrong Number, and they had never discussed things like fidelity.
If he had brought it up, she likely would have balked anyway, knowing it would be an insane ask.
No, in the reality of it all, they were, at most, friends who shared a very peculiar relationship with each other.
Scarlett would bet anything that if she texted him right now and asked how he felt about this situation, he’d tell her it wasn’t a problem—because if he texted her right now, she’d write the same thing, whether she was honest about it or not.
But as she walked into the chilly Manchester night, she searched left and then right for Theo.
“Ready?” he asked from behind, causing her to jump again.
“Stop doing that.”
“I can’t help it. It’s fun watching you jump like that.” He offered her his elbow. “Come on.”
Placing her arm in the crook of his, she let him lead the way down the street toward the city center.