5. Chapter 5 #3
I was half asleep the next day when my phone buzzed repeatedly with text notifications. I’d forgotten to put it on silent; it wasn’t something I’d worried about the past few days while I’d slept like the dead. If my phone was even on, I hadn’t heard it.
I rubbed my eyes and yawned as I reached over for the phone on the nightstand.
Instead of grabbing it though, I must have knocked it over, as it clattered loudly to the floor along with the books I’d set on the stand.
I grunted, face-planting into the pillow and pulling the covers back over my head.
By this point, though, I was awake enough and eventually climbed out of bed and looked at my phone.
My eyes widened when I saw who sent the texts.
Brandon.
He wanted to know if I was feeling better and if I was free tonight.
I took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the bed. This was it. Before I could second-guess myself, I fired off a quick text asking him to call me.
He called surprisingly quickly. “Annie, how are you doing? I was worried. You’re not still sick, are you?” He did sound concerned.
Probably wanted to make sure I wouldn’t pass anything on to him .
But his tone sounded sincere, I thought with a lump in my throat.
“Not really, I’m doing better. Pretty awful for a few days, but I feel like myself again,” I said.
“Oh good, good,” he said quickly. “So listen, I was going to be in your part of town and wondered if I could come over tonight?” He paused. “I would’ve come sooner, but I got dragged to this literary convention in Duluth with Gregory. Wish you’d been there. I missed you, babe.”
Doubt began to rear its ugly head.
What if he was genuinely serious about me and just had a momentary lapse?
What if Viviana misinterpreted his intentions?
What if he realized he made a mistake and wants to come clean and apologize?
What if he realized he’s in love with me too?
What if …
Be cool, dammit.
“I’d love to see you tonight, Brandon. I’m actually feeling a lot better, thanks for asking. Do you want to come over around 7 or 8 tonight?”
“Oh, babe, no, I have a work thing. It’ll run late. I was thinking I’d stop over around midnight or so. Is that OK?”
Nope, he’s a scumbag. Definitely a booty call.
And he’d done this before … how many times? I felt sick thinking about it. And then I had an idea. “Sure.” I lowered my voice an octave. “I’ll be waiting for you, babe.”
“Wear the red bow thing. You know the one. I’ll unwrap—”
“I just might,” I said. “Later.” And then I hung up, before I started to feel truly ill.
What had I seen in him? Had I been that oblivious? Or was he just a master player? I’d dated these types before, but usually I could spot them sooner (or Viviana spotted it for me), and we were using each other. Rarely was I this completely blindsided.
Rafael had seen it coming, but he had a weird sixth sense, so he didn’t count. Viviana had seemed genuinely surprised, as had Rainn. Maybe Brandon was just really good at hiding his duplicitousness. So I wasn’t just an idiot for falling for him.
I shook my head, trying to clear out the thoughts of that man. After tonight, I wouldn’t think about him anymore. He wasn’t worth it. Just like all the others in the past. Well, most of them.
Picking up the books that had fallen onto the floor, I lovingly placed them on the bed and leaned back against the headboard to look through them. I’d managed to select Great Expectations by Dickens, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, and Persuasion by Jane Austen.
Ugh, Austen. Another reminder of Viviana.
She was obsessed with Austen. It was hard to think about Austen without thinking about Viv.
No thanks , I thought, setting that one aside.
Definitely in the “no” pile for now. The question now is whether I wanted a re-read or a new read.
And then fiction or nonfiction? I’d read Great Expectations , of course, and loved it.
I hadn’t read Hazelwood’s rom-com book yet, but I’d heard excellent reviews.
Could I really handle reading a love story right now though?
I’d heard great things about Doyle too, though Untamed was a nonfiction, personal growth type of book—not really my usual style.
But maybe my life was about to take some different turns.
Facing indecision, I set the books down and decided to venture out of my room to see if the guys were home.
“Hey girl,” came Rafael’s distracted voice.
“Guys.”
“Hungry?”
“Starving, actually. Um. What are you doing?”
“Playing a game.”
“Yeah, I can see that, but …” I was at a loss for words. The guys never played board games. We didn’t own any. None of us were board game-playing people. Viviana and her friends were. But not Rainn and Rafael.
And this game didn’t look like Monopoly or Checkers. It looked like the nerdy kind of game. The kind I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Or ten-sided dice. Or whatever they called it.
It wasn’t that I looked down on board game nerds. They were fun people, when they weren’t playing their games. I just wasn’t interested in those games myself.
Because of him.
I closed my eyes to try to shut out the memory—but it rushed in uninvited anyway.
His bedroom had smelled faintly of cedarwood and laundry detergent, with a tiny plastic dragon perched on his windowsill and stacks of hardcover books lining the floor like some kind of chaotic border.
I’d sat cross-legged on his bed, laughing throatily as I tugged at his sleeve, hoping to distract him.
“Come on,” I’d purred. “You seriously expect me to care about imaginary goblins right now?”
He’d just grinned—that maddening, dimpled, focused grin—and handed me a set of colorful dice that clicked together like candy. “You will. Trust me. ”
And, annoyingly, I had. Against all odds, I’d actually listened.
I’d asked questions. I’d created a character.
I’d even made up a ridiculous voice for her.
He’d guided me through a battle scene so vividly that I forgot we were in his room and not trapped in some mythical forest with an enchanted sword.
By the time I looked at my phone again, it was almost 11 pm.
We hadn’t kissed that day. He hadn’t even touched me. But somehow, it had felt more intimate than anything else we’d ever done. And that—that was the problem.
No.
There is absolutely no point in thinking about that. About him. About a time long ago. About freaking board games. But …
“Well, what brought this on?” I asked tentatively, resting my arms on the back of an empty chair.
“Oh, some guys at my new job play it every day at lunchtime. They invited me to play a few days ago, and I’m kind of hooked,” Rainn said.
“And now he’s forced me to play,” Rafael said, rolling his eyes before they eagerly returned to study the board.
Rainn laughed. “You’re the one that wanted to play a third time.”
“Shut up, you dork.”
“You’re both nerds now,” I said with exaggerated disappointment in my tone. “I should have seen it coming. You were both watching that Star Wars show last week, mandarin, or whatever it is.”
Rafael looked outraged for a moment and then took a calming breath. “ The Mandalorian . Whatever, Annie. I saw you with a big stack of books on your nightstand today. Maybe you’re not as much of a party girl as you’d like us all to believe, eh?”
“Oh, that’s way below the belt, Raf.” I punched him in the shoulder lightly. “But as it happens, I do plan to do some reading. I have hours to kill before Brandon stops over tonight.”
Both of them turned sharply toward me with eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, he called. For a booty call. And he’s going to get … the boot ,” I said, cackling as I kicked my foot out .
Rafael jumped up from his chair and hugged me, spinning me around. “That’s my girl. I wish I could sit and watch, with popcorn. But you’ll want it to be private, won’t you?”
I nodded. “I was hoping you could send him into my room when he arrives. Make him think I’m waiting in there for him.”
“Sure, what time?” Rainn asked, cracking his knuckles.
My lips twitched. “He said around midnight. And don’t get any crazy ideas. I’m going to deliver the news Annie-style.”
“Play the next game with us?” Rafael asked with pleading eyes, pointing to the empty chair. “We’ll be done with this round soon.”
“And now you’re not even pretending to not be hooked,” I said, shaking my head. “As appealing as that is, or isn’t, I am going to read.”
Rainn frowned. “But Annie—”
“OK, because I know you guys miss seeing me, I’ll read out here on the couch.” I flashed a dazzling smile, running my fingers through my hair while I turned to go fetch my books.
Pip had only just discovered he would be meeting Miss Havisham when my phone buzzed beside me on the bed.
I drew in a steadying breath and looked at the text message.
Brandon was on his way. I scanned the area for my bookmark, which I’d brought with me when I’d gone to read in my bedroom an hour ago.
Finally, I found it and placed it lovingly within my worn-out copy of Dickens’ classic.
I’d decided to read Great Expectations after all, as I couldn’t handle a romance happily ever after right now, and I definitely needed fiction.
I couldn’t recall every detail of the novel I’d read many years ago, but I was pretty sure Pip’s love story didn’t end well. And that was perfect.
Soon I heard voices outside my room, followed by a brief knock before he entered .
Brandon walked in, closing the door behind him quickly. I’d dimmed the lights, so it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. “Annie, hi. Oh, you … aren’t wearing the red thing.”
I steeled myself. I’d prepared for this conversation. I would play it cool if it killed me.
I kept my expression and my tone neutral. “I am not.”