My phone vibrates in my hand as I wait for the light to cross.
I eat donuts and design maternity clothes. What about you?
I step off the curb and start typing, following the crowd as they cross the street.
Going to visit my folks.
I wait for a response and stop on the sidewalk once I see it.
They live in the city?
Uptown.
I type back before I press send.
There's a pause before I see her typing.
I'm heading uptown in two hours. It's half price today at my favorite fabric place.
I should invite myself along, but I've got some place I need to be after this.
Do you wanna come with? I could use you as a model.
I stare down at the screen, clenching my phone in my fingers so hard it's liable to bend in half.
Fuck.
Can't. I've got plans.
I make it all the way to the lobby of my parents' building before I finally hear the chime on my phone signaling a new message.
No problem. Have a good day, Nicholas.
You too.
I press send even though I want to tell her what I'm doing. I can't yet. It's too much. If she knows what's lurking in my past, I may never see her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Sophia
"Why areyou sitting at home on a Saturday night?" Cadence pushes my feet aside so she can sit next to me on the couch. The aroma of the popcorn she just made fills the room. "I thought you'd be out on a date with the great American novelist."
I thought I would be too. I wasn't all that surprised when Nicholas turned down my invitation to meet me at the fabric store. I don't know another soul who would want to spend an entire Saturday afternoon checking out hundreds of rolls of discounted fabric. I totally get that, but I was curious when he said he had other plans and then didn't elaborate.
We had that awkward conversation about only dating each other a few days ago, but we haven't touched on it since. If he's changed his mind, I'm not going to pout. I just want to know where I stand with him.
"Are you saying you'd rather be at home alone?" I push my bare foot into the side of her jean covered thigh. "I know Tyler pulls a shift every Saturday night because he can't stand thethought of anyone but him being at Nova's helm on the busiest night of the week."
"That's word-for-word what I said to you when he started working weekends." She arches a brow. "You know how he is. He owns the place. If something goes wrong, it's all on him."
"I get it." I do. I'm the same way with my designs. I tweak them incessantly until I think they look perfect. It's not because I have the pressure on me that Tyler does. No one knows about my work yet, but when I do get discovered, I want to be certain that it's smooth sailing from that day forward.
She stretches her arm along the back of the sofa as she pops a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "I want to talk about Nicholas. Have you seen him again?"
All of him, as a matter of fact.
"I saw him last night," I say as I push the remote to pause the program we've been watching. It's an episode of our favorite police procedural. We started the habit of watching it together when we were roommates and now I always wait for Cadence to come over before I order a new episode on Netflix.
