AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I make a face. “Never as fun as this,” I say. “We always hung out with Brent’s friends who were the usual Harvard douchebag guys. Can’t say I miss any of them. Brent’s a sports agent so we either would go to games or sports bars. And I’m not that into sports or drinking.”
“So you guys never did anything you enjoyed?” Nick asks.
“No, we did,” I say.
“Like what?”
When called out, I struggle to come up with something. Finally I shake my head. “You know what? I can’t even remember. For my birthday last year all I wanted were Taylor Swift tickets.”
“Big fan?”
“Huge. I still remember the first time I heard Love Story as a kid, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.”
“It is a classic.”
“Well Brent called it ‘chick music’. So even though I wanted to go, I was still surprised when he started dropping hints that he’d gotten tickets for something really special around my birthday.”
“I’m guessing it wasn’t Taylor Swift.”
I shake my head. “Bingo. It was Iron Maiden. Which is one of Brent’s favorite bands. And the worst part was I’d assumed he’d gotten Taylor Swift tickets so I didn’t buy any myself before they sold out!”
Nick groans. “That’s terrible.”
“That was Brent in a nutshell. But enough about me. What about you? Do you go to concerts?”
“I don’t get a lot of chances to do things like that,” he says. “It’s a distraction from my job.”
“Maybe you’d get more done if you enjoyed some of your evenings,” I counter. “I know I’m always at my most creative when I’ve turned off my phone and haven’t thought about work for a couple days.”
“I don’t think that’s even possible for my job,” Nick replies. “The company needs me. There’s always a dozen or more fires to be put out at any given time.”
“Tonight was okay,” I say with a small smile.
He returns it. “It was,” he admits.
We stare at each other and the silence is filled by the distant hum of traffic and the sad tune of the busker’s guitar. Something pulses between us, something that we haven’t given voice to, not since Nick told me he wanted to fuck me all the way back in the club. Is he thinking the same thing that I am? Or is he weighing whether this night was worth the trouble he’ll have to clean up tomorrow? Indecision is in his eyes, and before he can say anything, I make the choice for him.
“I should probably be heading back,” I say. It’s incredibly difficult to say, but it feels right, or, at the very least, responsible.
Nick looks surprised, disappointed, and maybe a little relieved. All the emotions conflict on his face.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” he says finally.
I’m surprised he even voices it, thought that our obvious mutual attraction would keep being beaten around the bush. But, as with everything he does, Nick is diving head in.
“It’s not,” he says again more forcefully at my skeptical look. “It’s my job. It’s…” His face looks strained for a moment. Then he turns away. “This just isn’t who I am. Running through the street. Talking about my childhood on park benches. It’s… This is a bad idea. I’m sorry.”
My heart crumples like a tin can in my chest, but I manage to keep my voice even, almost breezy. “Look, I was the one who said we should call it a night.”
“But…”
“No,” I say over him. “I agree. It’s a bad idea. I had a lot of fun tonight, but trust me when I say I’m never going to compete for a man’s affections again. Especially if that other thing is an inanimate company.” The words sound a little bitter and I try to soften my tone. “It’s okay. I’m not eager to rush into anything this soon after my breakup anyway. Maybe we can—” I stop myself from saying “stay friends” and switch to, “—just be more friendly at work. Let’s stop running out of the room when the other enters. Okay?”
He nods. “It’s only for a couple more months anyway,” he says. “Then you can get back to your real life.”
I nod. Little does he know that he’s not the only one whose job is their life. With Brent leaving so too did my social life, my friend group, my distractions, bad though they were. But I don’t want to bring the mood down any more. So instead I start to stand. But then suddenly, before I do, I impulsively lean forward and kiss him on the cheek.
Nick blinks at me, surprised. “What was that for?” he asks.
