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“I was thinking of texting Zach to see if he wanted to come tomorrow,” she replied honestly.
Zach had certainly been a topic of conversation over the past couple of days. And Rachel had not so subtly told her to get over herself and give things a chance. Libby believed their discussions were the only reason he was never far from her thoughts. God, she hoped that was true. All this thinking about him had her missing him. It was a new, scary and extremely disturbing feeling.
“Do it!” Rachel beamed.
After taking one more bite of cake for courage, Libby pulled her phone from her jean pocket. “I don’t know why you’re so excited. He’s just a friend, remember? I’m inviting him as a friend.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Rachel waved her off, “You keep telling yourself that, sugar.”
Ignoring her friend’s giggles, she stuffed more cake into her mouth, and typed out a message to Zach. Deleted it, then typed something else.
Libby: Hey, how was work?
To her surprise, a message appeared before she’d even had a chance to put her phone back in her pocket.
Zach: Hi, princess. Work was good. Tiring, but good. What you been up to?
Feeling her face stretch into an embarrassingly wide smile, she avoided eye contact with Rachel, who had undoubtedly noticed.
Libby: I made a new friend and I’ve been helping her bake cakes. Wanna come to the church fair with me tomorrow and test a few of them?
Zach: Hell yeah! If your cakes taste as sweet as you do, I’m in for a treat.
Libby: Omg I can’t believe you just said that! Cheesy much?
Zach: I can’t help it if the truth is cheesy. You’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. I think I’m addicted.
“Are you really blushing over there? What did he say?”
This was not the kind of conversation you have with a friend. Their teasing over the weekend was clearly still fresh in Zach’s mind. She hadn’t forgotten either. She’d been the one to start it, of course, but who knew he would turn it around on her so quickly. And smoothly.
“Oh God.” Libby’s head fell into her hands. Feeling the heat from her cheeks, she let out a groan of frustration. “What’s wrong with me? If anyone else was this corny, I’d have the ick by now. But Zach being corny? I like it. I really like it. Why do I like it? I’m not well, right? I’ve lost my mind.”
She felt Rachel’s fingers pulling her hands down until her head was fully released from their grip. “You’ve not lost your mind, sugar. Welcome to the world of dating. Get ready to start checking your phone obsessively, digitally stalking his exes and let’s not forget the classic changing your outfit ten times before going out.”
Finally lifting her head, Libby looked up at her friend. Probably looking as hopeless as she felt. “I don’t want to do all those things. I’ve purposely avoided dating and relationships so I don’t have to do all those things. I just don’t get it. Why is he different? Why can’t he be like normal men and just want sex? That, I can do. That’s so much easier. You get what you want without catching feelings. That is way more my style.”
Her phone chimed again. She was nervous to check it. But curiosity won out.
Zach: Did I scare you off already? I didn’t even get a chance to tell you how much I’ve been thinking about you.
Lord, have mercy.
Before she had a chance to reply, her phone started ringing. Zach was calling her. Shit. Was he insane? She could barely handle this conversation via text, let alone out loud.
“I swear to God, if you don’t answer that, I will,” her new friend threatened.
Rolling her eyes at Rachel, she answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”
Well done. That was totally casual. Sort of.
“I decided I wanted to hear your voice.” His own voice was raw. Gravelly even. And laced with fire. She’d heard him sound like this once before. In her kitchen. As he stood between her thighs.
“You know, they have special numbers for that kind of thing.”
His deep, rumbly laugh caused her to smile, betraying her sass. “Your number is all I need.”
“And on that note ... I’m gonna go. But I’ll see you tomorrow?” She was not going to entertain this conversation. Not with Rachel’s astute eyes on her, anyway.
