Chapter 8 #2
Those words alone did crazy things to my insides. “It’s alright,” I said, shoving a hand through my hair, then keeping it there as I walked aimlessly through my apartment. “I should have mentioned about the construction project sooner.”
“No, I shouldn’t have flown off the handle like I did,” Diccon said. I could practically see his face screwed up in frustration with himself as he talked. “I think I was just tired and keyed up over…over our date.”
I smiled. That sounded like a good thing. “I guess we’re even, then,” I said, hoping my smile came through in my voice. “Since I freaked out on you and ran out at open mic night.”
Diccon laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, maybe we should work on the whole not running away thing.”
“We should,” I agreed.
A long silence fell between us, like we both had a ton of things to say but didn’t know where to start.
I wanted to tell Diccon that I understood if he didn’t want to give things a second chance, but I really hoped he would forgive and forget because we were good together.
I wanted to tell him he was totally the kind of guy I could fall in love with.
He surprised me completely by saying, “So, listen. I was looking over the flier that the guy from Jameson Industries dropped off at the café earlier in the week, and I think I see a potential solution to make the construction period less painful for the café and the other businesses along that strip.”
“Oh yeah? I was just looking at the same thing, too,” I said.
“You were?” Diccon seemed as surprised as I was.
“Yeah. I thought a lot about the things you said the other night, and I knew there had to be a solution.”
“What did you come up with?” Diccon asked.
“Well, for one, Jameson could move the construction entrance to a side street so traffic for the businesses won’t be so bad.”
“No way!” Diccon laughed. “That’s the same idea I came up with.”
Excitement swirled through me, making me giddy for a second. “Great minds think alike, eh?” I said, so happy we were on the same page.
“You’re the expert, though,” Diccon went on. “What did you come up with?”
“I might be the expert,” I said, diverting for a second, because I had something really important to say, and I didn’t want to wait, “but you’re really smart, too, you know.” I tried to say it casually, but we both knew I was addressing something bigger.
Diccon blew out a breath. “I’m insecure about college sometimes,” he confessed carefully. “It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the way some of my old friends reacted when I told them I wasn’t going. Some of them weren’t very nice about it.”
“Bastards,” I said, going for humor, even though it was a risk.
The risk paid off. Diccon laughed. “Yeah, well, it’s my bad for letting that old hurt get in the way of something good now.”
I let that sink in for a second, smiling as I did. Diccon thought we had something good.
“We’ve all got those stupid core wounds, or whatever they call them, that keep us from enjoying things sometimes,” I said. “You already know that I have a problem breaking my routine and that I get nervous about asking guys out in case they’re straight and I end up heartbroken.”
“That’s not going to happen with me,” Diccon said, his voice going soft. “I really admire you for taking a risk and going outside your comfort zone to get what you want. I need to take a page out of that book myself.”
“You’re doing fine as far as I can tell,” I said, wishing more than anything that this conversation wasn’t a phone call and that we could wrap the whole thing up on my couch, the way we’d done the other night.
Or even in my bed. “You came up with the same solution to the problem as a seasoned architect.”
Diccon laughed. “You’re being too kind.” He paused, and again, I wished we were actually together. There was far more going on between us than a phone conversation. It sucked that it was too late to invite him over, especially when I now had important work to do in the morning.
“I’ll tell you what,” I said, shifting into business mode.
“I know Kyle Jameson, the guy responsible for the expansion project, lives in the area. Why don’t I set up a meeting with him for as soon as possible, and you can attend that meeting.
We’ll both explain the change of plans to him and see what he thinks, if he can work with us. ”
“Really?” Diccon sounded surprised. “You’d let me sit in on a meeting like that?”
“Of course.” I smiled and stopped my pacing at last, sinking onto my couch. “It was your idea, after all. And besides, my office is currently Common Grounds. You’d be there anyhow.”
Diccon laughed. “We’re going to have to start charging you rent for that booth soon. Not that I mind having you there at all,” he rushed to add. “I kind of like looking at your red hair and your freckles while I’m trying to work.”
I beamed from ear to ear. “I don’t mind looking at you and listening to you call out people’s orders myself.”
Another silence fell between us, but it was a good one this time. I just knew Diccon was smiling, and it made me feel good inside.
“So are we good now?” I asked hesitantly, still uncomfortable with putting myself all the way out there.
Diccon hummed. “I don’t know,” he said teasingly. “We’ll have to wait and see how this meeting goes, whenever you’re able to set it up. I might be forced to serve you disgusting, blueberry coffee every time you come in until then.”
I laughed. “I still don’t understand why you think that coffee is so bad. I really liked it.”
Diccon made a scoffing sound, and I could practically see him shaking his head. “And here you’re the one with the four-year college degree. That just goes to show that they don’t teach you anything in a big, fancy college.”
“I’ll have to rely on you to be my tutor,” I said, lowering my voice to a flirty register.
“We’ll see,” Diccon said in a voice that made my jeans tighter.
We said goodbye, and I lowered my phone and stared across the room to the blueprints on the table.
Kyle Jameson was a notoriously tough nut to crack, but I had a feeling that between the two of us, Diccon and I could convince him this was the best way to move forward.
I had a feeling that together we could do just about anything.