And that’s before I read the message.
I’m withdrawing my name from consideration for the team manager position.
I sit straight up.
Blink a few times.
Get up and take a piss to verify I’m actually awake and not having a whacked-out dream.
When my toilet looks like my toilet and I don’t struggle to relieve myself, I know I’m truly awake and not dreaming or hallucinating.
So I head back to bed. Sit up. Read Addie’s message again.
And then I call her.
When she doesn’t answer, I call her again.
This time, she answers on the fifth ring, sounding mildly out of breath. “You’re not supposed to call me.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re only at the texting each other stage of this…thing. Hang up and text me back.”
“Look at this funny hockey GIFis texting stage.I’m making a massive career decision that I texted you about at two in the morningis phone stage.”
“Oh, fuck, it’s two a.m. on the East Coast.”
“It’s past your bedtime in LA too.”
“Cooper and Waverly had a party.”
I hear distant laughter, and I realize she’s still there. “You went? Good on you.”
“Waverly’s my friend. And I wanted to talk to a friend.”
“About your job?”
“About you. But that’s for text. Not for phone.”
I almost smile while I rub my hand over my heart that’s pounding in my chest. My pulse is still hammering, but it’s starting to slow down. “How about you tell me what you were going to text to save your hands the trouble?”
She blows out a breath. I wonder if she’s working up herI’m a badassexpression, or if she’s scrunching her face up in frustration that I’m not cooperating. “You should go back to sleep.”
“Paisley’s at a party. I’m sleeping like shit while I worry some fucker’s plying her with alcohol or getting pissed that she’s whomping him in pool or…worse.”
“Is she alone?”
“No. She made a few friends at her new job and apparently she’s doing some Greek life thing too.”
“Are they the good kind of friends?”
“If I knew they were the good kind of friends, I’d be sleeping a lot better.”
“Oh.”
“She’s never made bad friends before, so she’s probably fine. But I’m not, which is a me problem.” No matter how much work I’ve done to remind myself that I’m not responsible for everything that happens to everyone in my life, I’m still likely not sleeping the rest of the night. “What’s with this change in job idea?”
When she doesn’t answer right away, I settle deeper into my bed and switch the call to speakerphone. “Addie?”
