Damn. “Yeah. Of course. I’ll bet you’re exhausted. I can walk you back to the hotel. I need to head over to the gym and change out of my Santa gear.”
“Thanks. Now that my adrenaline is wearing off, I just want to go back to my apartment, change into my pajamas, and spend the rest of the night watching Christmas movies.”
He wished he could join her. Hang out at her place, make popcorn, and watchElforA Christmas Story. But he didn’t suggest it because he didn’t trust himself to be alone with her right now. If she gave him even the slightest encouragement, he’d end up kissing her again.
After parting ways with her at the hotel, he went back to Northlife Fitness, changed in the locker room, and headed home. Once he got to his apartment, he called out to his roommates but didn’t get a reply. No surprise since it was a Saturday night and they usually went out drinking, then ended up at a club.No, thanks.Drew had tried the club scene when he first moved to Victoria, but he wasn’t much of a night owl, especially since some of the classes he taught started at seven in the morning.
As usual, the kitchen was a disaster, with dirty dishes piled in the sink and the trash overflowing with takeout containers from Wing’s Chinese restaurant. Not for the first time, he wished he had his own place, but rent in Victoria was sky-high. He’d deal with the mess later. Right now, he needed to cool off with a beer.
He plopped down on the couch with a bottle of Labatt Blue and turned on the TV, flicking through the streaming services until he found one of his favorite ’80s action flicks—the firstTerminatormovie.
For a moment, he was tempted to text Rosie and suggest they do a watch-along, but he didn’t want to come across as too intrusive. Besides, she’d probably settled in with a Christmas movie by now. When his phone rang, he answered it quickly and was pleased to hear his sister’s voice come on the line.
“Hey, Drew,” Kate said. “How’d it go at the Duchess? I wish I could have helped instead of being stuck at Lola’s bridal shower. It wasthe worst.”
Uh-oh. For the past week, Kate had been looking forward to the shower. Had she hit her limit? He turned off the TV. “What happened? Too much socializing?”
“That part wasn’t so bad. But Lola’s obnoxious younger sister organized the shower, and she went the raunchy route. We’re talking games like pin-the-junk on the hottie, dirty Pictionary, and Truth or Dare. I’d just as soon block it from my memory, so tell me about your event at the hotel. Were the crafts a big hit?”
“They were fantastic. The kids loved them.” At her urging, he filled her in but didn’t stop there. With some reluctance, he told her about kissing Rosie and the awkwardness that had ensued afterward.
“I screwed up,” he muttered. “But now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“When you told me about this pretend-dating scheme, I was all for it. Anything to show Evelyn you’d moved on. But it’s not just about that anymore. Right?”
“Yeah. Rosie and I…we’re friends now. I like spending time with her.”
“Then why not go out with her for real? She’s obviously into you. When I dropped off the craft supplies with her friend Charlie, we both agreed you need to stop with the fake shit.”
“You were talking about us?” He cringed, imagining the conversation.
“It just came up. But seriously, tell Rosie you’re done pretending. It’s that simple.”
“No, it’s not,” he grumbled. Usually his older sister’s advice was spot-on, but not this time. “She’s too busy at the hotel. And if she doesn’t meet her boss’s demands, she might be looking for a new job in January. Which means she could end up anywhere. She won’t want to be tied down by a romantic relationship.”
“That’s weak, and I don’t buy it,” Kate said.
“I’m serious. She’s dealing with a lot of stress.” Over the past month, he’d seen how overwhelmed she was. Even though she claimed to love a challenge, she was being pushed to her limits.
“This isn’t about her. It’s about you and your fear of getting hurt. It all boils down to your trust issues.”
He peeled the label off his bottle and crumpled it into a ball. “I don’t have trust issues.”
Which was a lie, because of course he did, after years of growing up in a family where his parents had heaped abuse on each other. And then turned on him whenever he tried to intervene.
“You totally do, and I get it. Our folks did a number on us. Every time I’m around them, I think, ‘How the fuck could I ever trust anyone enough to marry them? Why put in all that effort if it’s going to turn out like that?’ But just because we spent years watching them tear each other down doesn’t mean we’re gonna end up like them.” When he didn’t respond right away, she drove out a harsh sigh. “Listen, bud, I know I sound like a broken record, but I think you should consider therapy. It’s helped me a lot.”
He didn’t want to revisit this argument. The one time he’d asked his parents if they’d ever tried counseling, they’d called it a waste of money—a crutch for people too weak to solve their own problems. Even though heknewthey were wrong, their comments had stuck with him.
“Most of the time, I get by okay,” he said. “It’s just hard for me to open myself up to anyone. And then, when I finally did—”
“She screwed you over royally.”
“To be fair, it wasn’t one-sided. She claimed I wasn’t letting her in completely, and she was right.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t have to cheat on you with her old boyfriend and then gaslight you for weeks. She was manipulative as hell. I should know, seeing as how I dated someone just like her.”
True enough. Kate’s last girlfriend hadn’t been much better. If anything, she’d been worse because she’d stolen money from Kate. Since then, his sister hadn’t dated anyone new.
