just soap. In
this case, however, it was intoxicating.
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” he
continued softly.
“It’s okay,” I whispered back. “No offense
taken.”
I wondered if Blake had put him up to this.
She stood at the hood of her car, observing us. Matthew let out a
sigh of relief and stuck his tongue out at her. She shook her head
and we walked up to the entrance together. I trailed slightly
behind.
My suspicions were right. There was a
forty-five minute wait for a table. Blake assured me that this
wasn’t out of the ordinary on a Saturday night. We passed the time
talking about a wide variety of things until an easy silence fell
between us. I made sure to keep Blake between us as a buffer.
I repeated my newly created mantra in my head
all through dinner. We were seated in a booth, Matthew across from
Blake and me. I kept my feet tucked close to the bench seat, afraid
to stretch my legs and bump into him under the table. I allowed the
two of them to dominate the conversation, listening politely and
averting my eyes even though I could feel Matthew’s burning into
me.
When we returned to the car, I finally
relaxed. I hadn’t even realized all the tension in my body until
Matthew took off in the Mustang and Blake and I were left alone. I
slumped down in my seat.
Blake didn’t notice at first. “So, how was
it?”
“The food was delicious. You were right.”
She smiled triumphantly. Then she took a
closer look at me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “It’s just been a long day.”
Wisely, she accepted my answer. We drove home
in relative silence, and I excused myself to my room under the
guise of needing to unpack. I closed the door, flopping onto my new
queen sized bed. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed
Gracie’s number. She answered on the second ring.
“What’s up, hon?” she asked breezily.
“The room’s beautiful. You’ll have to come
see it. I’ll send you some pictures later.”
“Awesome. I can’t wait.”
I spent the next twenty minutes pretending
that I wasn’t about to have a nervous breakdown. Gracie’s voice was
comforting. We recounted the remainder of our day. She told me
about her latest shopping trip. I told her about the Italian
restaurant. We decided that she needed to go there with me when she
came to visit. I left out all things Matthew.
After we hung up, I remained flat on my back,
staring up at the ceiling. Tears clouded my vision. I had to be
imagining this. Matthew was just being nice. He wasn’t interested
in me. Just one abnormally perfect guy who was attempting to make
me feel welcome. Just a pretty face. Nothing more.
I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my
face in the pillow. Guilt plagued me as I realized Eric’s touch no
longer made me react the way Matthew’s innocent gestures had. Had
it ever? I thought of my boyfriend, en route to Atlanta with no
clue that I was here, thinking impure thoughts. I snorted,
realizing that he would undoubtedly be ogling some showgirls soon
without remorse. From him, I expected that behavior. From myself,
not so much.
Even though I knew that Eric’s phone would be
shut off during the flight, I still texted him. I told him that I
had made it safely to Fort Wayne, that I hoped his trip went well
and that I loved him. When I rolled over to check my phone hours
later, there was still no response.
As I drifted back to sleep, Gracie’s parting
words haunted me.
Are you ready for an upgrade?
Chapter Six
My final week of vacation went quickly. I had
finally gotten everything unpacked and organized so that I could
locate it in a timely fashion. The move from a studio apartment to
one room in a house wasn’t too traumatic, especially since half of
my kitchen stuff had found a home downstairs. Technically, I
supposed I could claim the majority of the loft area as my own,
save for Blake’s office/workroom.
I was slowly getting used to sharing my space
with someone else. We had
this case, however, it was intoxicating.
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” he
continued softly.
“It’s okay,” I whispered back. “No offense
taken.”
I wondered if Blake had put him up to this.
She stood at the hood of her car, observing us. Matthew let out a
sigh of relief and stuck his tongue out at her. She shook her head
and we walked up to the entrance together. I trailed slightly
behind.
My suspicions were right. There was a
forty-five minute wait for a table. Blake assured me that this
wasn’t out of the ordinary on a Saturday night. We passed the time
talking about a wide variety of things until an easy silence fell
between us. I made sure to keep Blake between us as a buffer.
I repeated my newly created mantra in my head
all through dinner. We were seated in a booth, Matthew across from
Blake and me. I kept my feet tucked close to the bench seat, afraid
to stretch my legs and bump into him under the table. I allowed the
two of them to dominate the conversation, listening politely and
averting my eyes even though I could feel Matthew’s burning into
me.
When we returned to the car, I finally
relaxed. I hadn’t even realized all the tension in my body until
Matthew took off in the Mustang and Blake and I were left alone. I
slumped down in my seat.
Blake didn’t notice at first. “So, how was
it?”
“The food was delicious. You were right.”
She smiled triumphantly. Then she took a
closer look at me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “It’s just been a long day.”
Wisely, she accepted my answer. We drove home
in relative silence, and I excused myself to my room under the
guise of needing to unpack. I closed the door, flopping onto my new
queen sized bed. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed
Gracie’s number. She answered on the second ring.
“What’s up, hon?” she asked breezily.
“The room’s beautiful. You’ll have to come
see it. I’ll send you some pictures later.”
“Awesome. I can’t wait.”
I spent the next twenty minutes pretending
that I wasn’t about to have a nervous breakdown. Gracie’s voice was
comforting. We recounted the remainder of our day. She told me
about her latest shopping trip. I told her about the Italian
restaurant. We decided that she needed to go there with me when she
came to visit. I left out all things Matthew.
After we hung up, I remained flat on my back,
staring up at the ceiling. Tears clouded my vision. I had to be
imagining this. Matthew was just being nice. He wasn’t interested
in me. Just one abnormally perfect guy who was attempting to make
me feel welcome. Just a pretty face. Nothing more.
I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my
face in the pillow. Guilt plagued me as I realized Eric’s touch no
longer made me react the way Matthew’s innocent gestures had. Had
it ever? I thought of my boyfriend, en route to Atlanta with no
clue that I was here, thinking impure thoughts. I snorted,
realizing that he would undoubtedly be ogling some showgirls soon
without remorse. From him, I expected that behavior. From myself,
not so much.
Even though I knew that Eric’s phone would be
shut off during the flight, I still texted him. I told him that I
had made it safely to Fort Wayne, that I hoped his trip went well
and that I loved him. When I rolled over to check my phone hours
later, there was still no response.
As I drifted back to sleep, Gracie’s parting
words haunted me.
Are you ready for an upgrade?
Chapter Six
My final week of vacation went quickly. I had
finally gotten everything unpacked and organized so that I could
locate it in a timely fashion. The move from a studio apartment to
one room in a house wasn’t too traumatic, especially since half of
my kitchen stuff had found a home downstairs. Technically, I
supposed I could claim the majority of the loft area as my own,
save for Blake’s office/workroom.
I was slowly getting used to sharing my space
with someone else. We had
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