Bentley: Are you almost ready?
Serena: Yeah. Give me a few minutes. I’m waiting for my food to get here.
Bentley: Okay. I’ll call you in ten minutes.
Serena: Sounds good.
* * *
Crap. I hope the food gets here in time. I’m not a huge fan of burgers, but that’s what he wanted, so I searched around for a decent-looking burger joint to order from. I hope it’s good. I added avocados to it hoping it will make it taste better.
Rather than struggle to put my pants on while standing, I lean back on the bed and pull them up. This is so much easier, and it minimizes my chances of falling. All I need are some cozy socks and to stalk to my door for the food.
Grabbing my charger from the nightstand, I hurry to the living room. The delivery driver should be here in less than five minutes. That gives me enough time to get Netflix, grab something to drink, and pull out my favorite blanket. This date will be comfortable all the way around. Even though Bentley is getting creative, I’m not sure how I feel about dating when I can’t physically be around the person. The whole point of watching a movie together is cuddling, and I’m not about to cuddle with my phone. That’s just weird.
A knock sounds at the door as I’m putting my bottle of water on the coffee table. Thank God. There’s only a few minutes until Bentley is supposed to call me back. I open the door without bothering to look through the peephole. A young guy in a cap is standing in my doorway, a bag of food in his outstretched hand. “Are you Serena?”
“Yes,” I say louder than needed. “Sorry, yes.”
“Awesome,” he sighs. “I went to the wrong floor and was yelled at by some old dude. Anyway, here’s your food.”
“Thank you.” I grab the cash I keep on the table beside my door and give him a tip. “Good luck on the rest of your deliveries. Hopefully, you don’t get yelled at again.”
“Thanks ma’am. Have a good night.” He leaves as I shut the door, and the food smells delicious. I swear, if burgers smelled like this all the time, I’d probably eat them more often.
I hurry to the kitchen, grab a plate, and bring it to the living room. The ten minutes is almost up, and I’m setting my food out. I don’t want the sound of a crinkling bag to ruin whatever plans Bentley has. In all of my rushing today to get my errands run, I didn’t even ask him what movie we’re watching. I guess I’m about to find out soon enough.
Grabbing my plate, I sit on the sofa, crossing my legs in front of me, and wait. My phone should be ringing any second now. A couple of minutes pass and he still hasn’t called. Is he standing me up? He told me he’d call, and while I could call him, I’m not going to. He’s the one that pushed for this date, and he should be the one that calls me.
I pick up my phone, checking to make sure it’s not on silent. Nope, the little button is up, and there aren’t any new messages from him. Something might have happened in the past fifteen minutes. He’s just running late. A heads up would be nice. I didn’t have any other plans tonight, but I don’t want to stay up all night waiting for a call that might never come.
Another five minutes go by, and still nothing. My only company is my TV screen and Netflix showing me suggestions for what I should watch. Well, I guess I might as well start a new show and see if he ends up calling. Hopefully, my gut is wrong and the phone will ring soon.
Fifteen
Bentley
Hopefully Serena is all set. I’ve got my bag from Whataburger and my TV queued up. This is definitely the most unique date I have ever had. The upside is there isn’t any weird sending her home afterward, not that I would do that to her. I don’t think, anyway. It’s been years since a woman has gotten past date one. That’s usually my limit. No further dates mean they don’t walk out on me later. It’s also the reason I usually dismiss the women I’m with. No attachments. Serena is different, though. Something about her calls to me.
I grab my phone off the end table and hover above her name, but my screen flashes with an incoming call. Derrick’s name pops up, and he has the worst timing ever. I haven’t heard from him in weeks, and this is the time he calls. I could always reject it and act like I didn’t hear the phone. He’s persistent, though. He has been since the day I met him and he wanted me to help him get ready for basketball tryouts at Hilltown University. He badgered every senior on the team until I finally agreed. Other than that short amount of time he let an old flame get in his head, he was dedicated.
The urge to press the red button is strong, but he’ll just keep calling until I answer. He knows I’m usually free, and wouldn’t think I might have plans. Sighing, I press the button to accept the call. “Hey, Derrick.”
“Hey, man. How are things?” There’s no pause for me to answer before he’s charging into the next question. “Dude, we’re struggling as a team. I have no idea what to do. It’s like when you left, the rest of the team just kind of gave up. It’s hurting our chances for playoffs.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and check the time. Shit, it’s a few minutes past the time I was supposed to call Serena. “Look D, now isn’t really?—”
He cuts me off. “Please, Bentley. We have a game tomorrow and the guys are acting like we’ve already lost. We need your help.”
“I’m not sure what you expect me to do. It’s not like I can come play for y’all.”
“I know that.” He sounds frustrated. I know playing for Hilltown is one of his greatest accomplishments, and he wants the team to get another winning title. “Is there any way you can come talk to the team? Anything for these guys to get their heads out of their asses.”
“You sound desperate,” I hear in the background. It must be his roommate. “Maybe you should lead with a question instead of demanding time from him. He’s busy, too.”
I can’t remember the guy’s name, but I like the way he thinks. The few times I was around him, he seemed to have his head on straight. Even when he got with that party girl. Well, former party girl. She’s mellowed out a lot since they got together. Now if only Derrick would take some of those cues.
“Shut up, Travis. You stick to your books and let us talk ball.” As dedicated as Derrick is to the game, he lets it consume him. If I don’t put an end to this, he’ll keep me on the phone all night.
