"Is everything all right?" she asks instead of a greeting, causing me to grimace.
I sound accusatory as I answer, but I don’t care. "You have a good evening, too. And yes, it’s all good."
"I’m sorry. I just thought?—"
"That I’m already messing things up with Sophie after twenty-four hours?"
She’s silent for a moment before admitting, "Yeah. Kind of."
"I didn’t," I reply dryly.
"Good. Where is she?"
"I just dropped her off at home." Before Jules can ask any more questions, I tell her about our trip.
"So you’re telling me you spent half the day in the truck just to show her the ocean?"
Her disbelieving voice makes me snort. "Is that so far-fetched?" When it’s quiet for a few seconds, I frown. "Are you still there?"
"Yes. I was just checking to make sure this was really Cole Walker’s number because he would never do something like that. At least not in this universe. Do you have a fever?"
"No. What’s wrong with you?" Is it really so unbelievable that I’m actually doing something nice?
"That was really sweet of you." Jules’s voice suddenly sounds a little hoarse. "It’s just… strange. The last time you did something like that was a really long time ago."
I sigh because I know exactly what she’s talking about. "Yeah… Well… I just felt like it," I explain with a shrug even though she can’t see it.
She only responds with a weird noise.
"Are you crying?"
Jules sniffs. "What?"
"You’re crying."
"No! I’m not crying," she defends herself. "I’m just allergic to pollen."
Shaking my head, I tease her. "You don’t have a pollen allergy. We both know that for a fact, Jules."
She curses at me, but I can hear the smile in her voice. "Was it nice?"
"I think she really liked it," I reply.
Jules tuts. "It’s clear she liked it. I want to know what it was like foryou."
A strange knot forms in my throat and makes it difficult to swallow. Even though Jules and I have known each other for ages, we’ve never talked much about our feelings. Okay…I’venever talked about it. Nevertheless, I answer her truthfully.
"I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun."
Jules tries to mask her sob with a cough, but fails miserably. "That’s nice," she then says in a hoarse voice. "It’s all I’ve ever wanted for you."
"Okay. That’s enough," I decide because it’s a little too much emotional stuff for me. "I’m hanging up now."
"Wait!"
Instead of giving her the chance to make things even more awkward, I end the call and toss the phone into the center console.
If she thinks I’m going to tell her what her words mean to me, she’s got another thing coming. I may have made Sophie happy, but that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly all in on talking about my feelings, dammit. Besides, I don’t even understand what she means. It’s not like I proposed to Sophie. I just showed her the ocean. Not to mention that the idea of her and me as a couple is completely insane.
