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Closing the dishwasher, the kitchen all cleaned up, I sat at the counter. My apartment, walking distance to the bar they were heading to, wasn’t overly luxurious, but I loved it. Loved being within walking distance to Main Street. I could easily get dressed and join them, which would be less awkward than being at dinner with the four of them, but that wasn’t the real reason I wanted to stay in.
“First of all, I am a third wheel.”
“You aren’t,” Natalie chimed in. If I’d ever met a nicer person than Nat, I couldn’t remember who. She was sweetness personified. But she wouldn’t persuade me tonight.
“Second, I’m already in my cozy clothes.”
“An easy fix,” Charlee said. Knowing how spontaneous I was, Charlee was right. I would change on a dime if I wanted to.
“Sure, but,” I hedged. I didn’t want to lie to my friends, but I knew how this looked. . . dating Nate, so quickly after Erik, while we were technically still in the middle of Operation Distraction. And a whole New Orleans trip next weekend, just for me? Meanwhile, I’d been thinking more about Nate than the guy I’d dated for six months which was definitely not normal.
Even still. I couldn’t quite reconcile my feelings, which were leading me in a direction I didn’t necessarily want to go. Yet, the thought of not texting Nate was. . . absurd.
“Nate said he thought it was going to be a slow day today,” I explained. Not surprisingly, no one said a word. “That means, when he wakes up, which should be soon, he may have some time to text this morning.”
“This morning?” Natalie asked.
“It’ll be four a.m. for him soon. Kinda early, but he’s usually up by five.”
“Hooooold on.” Charlee nearly climbed through the phone. “I knew you guys were talking, but you know his schedule?”
I sighed. “I do.”
“Which means you’ve been talking a lot.”
“We have,” I admitted.
“You said she asked what he looked like,” Natalie piped in. “That can’t be a surprise. I mean, the guy’s hot. And single. And no one knows better than you the appeal of a man in uniform. And one who hunts people down for a living? Extra hot.”
I might argue the “hunts people down for a living” comment, but there was no denying the role Nate played in the military had a certain sex appeal to it.
“You ladies ready to roll?”
That was Lucas’s voice which meant this conversation was over.
“You guys have a blast. I’m just gonna go snuggle up with a good show and will catch up with you tomorrow.”
“A good show,” Charlee mocked. “Whatever you say.”
Smiling, I said goodbye to the girls and putzed around my apartment, trying not to look at the time. Four a.m. there now. Still early, but feasible. Nearly an hour later, everything was clean, I’d tried to actually watch a show and failed, and was basically relegated to picking up and putting down my phone like a madwoman.
And then it buzzed.
I raced to it.
What’s shakin’ in Kitchi Falls?
Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.
Breathe, Zoe. He’s just a guy. Not even one you’re dating. Just a guy you barely know who you’ve texted a few times.
Albeit a really nice, funny, sexy, uniform-wearing sniper guy, but a guy just the same.
I forced myself not to text back immediately. Instead, I poured a wine and casually, or not so casually, carried it to the couch. I pulled a blanket on my lap, took a sip of wine, and picked up my phone. Ready.
Staying in tonight.
It didn’t take him long.
