My phone buzzed with a notification, and I recognized Sawyer’s picture on my screen. I put my phone aside and motioned for Ash to leave. “I have hours of edits to do. Would you mind taking Lara for a walk?”
Ash pushed himself to his feet. “Sure, no problem.”
Once he was gone, I pressed play on Sawyer’s voice memo. I’d told him that I preferred voice notes to text messages and, for the most part, he’d made the switch. Sometimes he’d send a text, but only if it was short.
“I’ve never written a memoir before,”Sawyer’s message started.“And sometimes I think Thurston convinced me to bite off more than I can chew.”
There was a silence before the message continued.“I think I have a decent handle on the early years, but I’d like to talk about some of the gaps in your story. Let me know when you’re free. I know your schedule is busier than mine, so I’ll make it work.”
At the thought of seeing Sawyer, I found myself smiling. As a kid, I’d found it hard to make friends, and as an adult, I’d been forced to be a bit of an extrovert. I often found people exhausting, especially when I was in situations that I wasn’t in control of.
Sawyer and I had connected right from the beginning, and I realized I was looking forward to seeing him. I hadn’t known him that long, and I chalked our connection up to the fact that he already knew more about me than a lot of people. Well, not more, not yet, but he knew things no one else knew.
Instead of texting back, I called him. Sawyer answered on the first ring.
“You didn’t have to respond so fast. I’m probably disturbing you.”
“If you were disturbing me, I wouldn’t have called you. When did you want to meet?”
“Oh, we can just… talk… on the phone. I wouldn’t want to put you out.”
“Sawyer, I’ve been staring at a computer screen all day. I bet you’ve been doing the same thing. We both could use a break.And before you ask, yes, I’m sure. How about you come over for dinner?”
I glanced at the clock. It was only a little after three. I could get something tossed on the stove and jump in the shower and get cleaned up in plenty of time. “Say… six-ish?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. It’ll be better to discuss some of this stuff in a more private setting. Plus, Lara misses her new friend.”
Stifling a groan, I buried my face in my hand and squeezed my eyes shut. I had officially resorted to bribing someone with my dog to get them to give me attention. Where did that sit on the pathetic scale?
“Okay.” Sawyer’s voice was quiet and slightly unsure, but then he spoke again and he sounded more certain. Like maybe he’d had some doubts but then got over them. “Six, right?”
“Yeah. Six.”
“Okay, see you then.”
He ended the call, and I found myself staring at my phone for a minute afterward wondering why my heart was racing. It shouldn’t feel like a date, but it kind of did. I wanted to sit and talk with him again. I wanted him in my space, and I wanted to cook for him. To dress up for him. To impress him.
Holy shit, I want to impress him.
Letting out a slow, deep breath, I tucked my phone away, saved my progress on the current project, and closed my laptop. After rummaging in the fridge and the freezer, I decided to make meatballs in tomato sauce. It would go nicely with a simple pasta, and it was something I could whack together and let sit in the oven.
By the time Asher returned with Lara, I was browning the meatballs. Lara sauntered in and curled up on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. “You’re a menace to my health. Go on, get to your spot.” I told her, feeling a little bad when she heaved herold bones up off the floor and moved to lie by the kitchen table where she wasn’t a tripping hazard.
Asher walked over to the stove and peered in the pan. “Oh, we’re having meatballs? I’m starved.”
I winced. “Uh, actually, they’re for Sawyer and me. He’s coming over later with some questions about the book.”
Asher was quiet for a second. “You know I could’ve written it, right? I wanted to do it.”
“I know you offered, Ash, but I wanted to find someone who didn’t know me to take the project on. There’s things that are going to be hard for me to talk about.”
Ash moved back and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked so much like Leo when he was annoyed that it made me smile. At first it had made me sad, but now it was like a little gift to see glimpses of Leo through Ash.
“You do know that I’m going to read it when it’s done.”
“As if I could stop you.” I turned my attention back to the stove where I added some onions to the browned meatballs, and once they were sautéed, I added the tomato sauce and seasoned it well before putting everything in a casserole dish and sticking it in the oven.
