Chapter Five
Holly
The first text from Austin came a few hours before he was expected to pick me up, and my heart stopped when I saw his name across my phone screen.
I didn’t think he was the type to cancel on me via text, but how could I know for sure.
My fingers shook as I rushed to open his message.
I’ve been thinking about tonight , was all it said.
Was… was that a good thing or a bad thing?
I had to swallow the lump in my throat— twice —and even hollered for Ivy to come help… before I realized I was completely alone in our shared apartment.
It had been so long since I’d done this dating thing, I was out of practice. And when I told my sister what happened at the build, her only advice was to “lock him down”.
As if I had the power to do that.
What if he didn’t want to be locked down ? Or more specifically, locked down by me ?
Rex once told me if I left him, I’d die alone because I wasn’t “keeping material”. And for a while, I believed him.
“ Who’d put up with your bullshit for a lifetime, Holly, seriously?” he’d said when I talked about our future with naive little stars in my eyes.
I’d asked what bullshit, fighting back tears. And he replied, “ All that gibberish about your hair business for starters. It’s just a glorified fucking barber shop and you wax poetic about it. Like it’ll change the whole world or something.”
“It doesn’t have to change the whole world,” I’d defended . “It only has to change one person’s world.”
When his derisive laugh caused me to burst into tears, he’d claimed it was just a joke.
But I knew.
I knew Rex was a cruel man who liked to tear others down to feel better. And that was everything I was against.
But it didn’t mean those cruel words didn’t cling to me a little bit, that they didn’t pop off sometimes in my mind and make me wonder…
No, don’t think like that. Don’t let him poison this.
I stared at the ominous text message.
Ivy wasn’t due back for another hour. I’d have to manage this on my own.
Me too , I typed. Just a few more hours. Everything good?
Everything’s perfect , he replied, and relief hit me like a bolt to the chest.
I sagged against the nearby wall, a big dose of reality setting in: this meant a lot more to me than it should, than I wanted it to. Because what if it turned out he wasn’t what he seemed? Or worse, what if he was… but he didn’t want me.
The phone buzzed with another message.
I know we’ll see each other in a few hours, but until then, do you want to play a game?
A smile creeped up my cheeks.
A game?
Yeah, he replied , it goes like this. I send an emoji, and you just answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. No context allowed .
Okay, this was fun. I had no idea what it would mean, but I was down to play.
I’m in. Let’s do this , I texted back.
The first emoji to come through was a plate of spaghetti. Was he asking me if I liked Italian food?
Y , I typed back.
Next, he sent a bouquet of flowers.
It was an instant Y for me. I adored flowers. As was clear from my business name.
My phone buzzed, and this time it was a star emoji.
A star? What could this one mean?
Was he giving me hints about our date?
I quickly sent Y , a giddy thrill rolling through me. I had no idea what I'd just said yes to, but I wondered if I even had it in me to tell this man no.
Next, he sent a talking head emoji.
Y .
And a couple holding hands.
Y .
Then an ocean wave. We were pretty far from the ocean, but maybe he was asking about the lake.
Y .
There was a pause before his next message came through. You haven’t said no once. Is your finger stuck on yes?
N, I answered.
Ok, good. Then here’s your next one…
I held my breath waiting for the next emoji. But when it hit my phone, I couldn’t have been more surprised.
My mild mannered, seemingly shy-but-hunky gentleman sent…
An eggplant.
The universal emoji for dick.
And there was no denying my body reacted instantly. A jolt of desire swept over me, pooling in my core. Did Austen have a hidden dirty side?
Until him, I hadn’t even thought about sex in years. But there was something so sexy about the way we connected at the build. He thought he wasn’t attractive, but I’d wanted to claw his clothes off right there on the spot.
I bit my lip.
Maybe I was the dirty one.
Several more texts came through in quick succession.
Wait.
Shit. Sorry.
Didn’t mean to send that one. A slip of the thumb.
Damn it.
I typed my answer anyway and hit send: Y
His response was slow, and I couldn’t help my grin. I imagined him as he was at the build, that awestruck look on his face. It made me wish he was here so I could take it in all over again.
My phone buzzed in my hand. Yes?
Of course, I teased . You were asking about Eggplant Parmesan, right? It’s my fave .
This time, he sent the facepalm emoji, the message attached: What am I going to do with you, pretty girl?
Love me , my mind piped up, you’re going to love me . But I didn’t dare say what I wanted.
Instead, I wrote, Pick me up at six, like we planned, I hope .
Well then , he replied. Game over , before I make any more dumbass mistakes and you change your mind .
Who won?
Me, clearly . His message came with a heart-eyes emoji. I’ll see you soon .
I’ll be waiting . I sent mine with a winking-kiss smiley.
***
Mario’s was packed, as usual for a Friday night, but Austin assured me he’d put in a reservation.
A reservation.
I’d never been taken to a place that needed one, so I already felt like a queen. Especially after he showed up at my door with a massive bouquet of roses in every color.
Roses were my favorite, and common enough that he could’ve guessed that part. But what made his bouquet really special was the different colors.
Only Ivy knew that I thought it was a waste to have a bunch of roses all one color when there were so many beautiful shades in existence.
Which meant he could’ve only known this detail if he’d done his research.
Good, because I’d done some too.
According to my sister, who spoke to his best friend, Austin didn’t date a lot. Or, well… ever, she’d said.
So we had that in common.
And I knew he was a hard worker who’d built his business from the bottom up.
More common ground.
I intended to learn all the ways we were a good match tonight, and then shamelessly exploit them.
As we waited in the reservation line, I couldn’t help but notice how close he stood. Close enough I kept catching hints of his delicious cologne. Woodsy but sweet. It reminded me of the night stars on a meadow.
And ohhh, he was handsome tonight.
He wore a black button-up shirt tucked into dark jeans that fit just right . I could see the thickness of his muscles even though he wasn’t lean.
Strong.
He had a working man’s body, and I liked it a whole lot.
Especially when his hand fell to the small of my back and he leaned in to murmur, “Did I mention, you look beautiful tonight.”
“You might have, a time or two.”
“Sorry, it’s just that I get short term memory loss every time I look at you.”
My grin was impossible to temper so I looked away before he could see how goofy he made me.
Up ahead, pieces of a conversation drifted back to us, instantly setting me on edge.
“… why did you wear that?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I’ve told you a million times, florals make you look like my grandma. Do you think I want to date my grandma, Brigette? Hmm? The answer is no. No, I do not.”
I didn’t know Brigette, but her quiet “I’m sorry,” broke my heart.
Because much to my absolute dismay, I did recognize her date's voice.
My shitty ex, Rex.
“What an asshole,” Austin muttered under his breath, echoing my exact thoughts. And it occurred to me what glaring opposites they were.
He had complimented me multiple times already, while Rex publicly shamed Brigette for her choice of dress.
I stared up at Austin, seeing everything so clearly. He would never disrespect his lady. He’d make her feel special and wanted, whether she wore flowers on her dress or not.
He was sweet and sexy, and didn’t need to belittle anyone else to prove it.
He was exactly what I was looking for in a man.
He caught my gaze, his expression going sheepish before turning hard.
“Sorry, darlin’,” he said, glancing away. “I just hate when people bring others down.”
“Me too,” I blurted, ready to tell him all my thoughts on the subject.
But before I could, the hostess called out, “Davis, party of two. Your reservation is ready.”
“That’s us.”
Relief settled over me. I wanted as far away from Rex as possible.
Except he was like a flea you couldn’t get rid of. No, he was like an entire infestation of them.
“Holly?” he boomed as we moved past him.
I’d thought I was shielded by Austin’s body, but apparently not. And ignoring him didn’t help because he just called my name even louder.
There was no getting out of this without acknowledging him.
I tugged Austin to a stop, apologizing with my eyes before telling the hostess, “One moment, please.”
Dread slithering in my belly, I turned to face the loud-mouthed bastard.
“Hello, Rex.”
Be strong. Be brave. He has no power over you anymore, Holly Marie James . You’re not unkeepable. You are more than enough… for the right person .
Please let Austin be the right person.