Too good to be true.
Forty-Six
I refuseto count the amount of texts I’ve sent Maggie in the last week. I’ve begged her to talk to me about going forward. I’m ready to make a move. But she’s told me to wait… and that’s it.
I’m trying to convince her. I’m trying to make her understand how serious I feel about this. Of course I don’t want to lose soccer, but I don’t want to miss this chance with her even more.
She sends back the same text every single time:
Just hold off.
Waiting. I hate waiting. I’m not even sure what this means.
We’ve both been out of town, me in Chicago, Maggie in Seattle. We’re back home, and we both have a couple days off. It’s now or never. I have to convince this woman that I’m earnest.
“Hear me out,” I say the second she picks up the phone. “I have a plan.” I just need to know that she’s on board with the plan.
“Why don’t you come over?” she says, her tone so much calmer than mine.
“Me, come to you?” I don’t know why I’m so surprised by the invitation; I’ve spent many days in the McCrae home since Maggie and I started not-dating.
“Do you have time?”
“I do!” I’m too eager, but it’s how I feel. “Now? I can be there in half an hour.”
“If you speed,” she says. “Drive the speed limit, be safe, and I’ll see you in forty minutes.”
I swallow, my breath catching in my throat.
“We need to talk,” Maggie says. “See you soon.”
The elation coursing through me pitters out. Talk.We need to talk.Why does that sound wrong?
I snatch my car keys, but my heart is thumping, and not in a good way. I’m probably being irrational or oversensitive.
Me: When a woman says, “We need to talk,” that means??
Roman: Never good.
Me: Never? Are you sure?
Zev: Positive.
Callum: Maggie didn’t say that… Did she?
Me: No. Just asking. For a friend.
Roman: Nothing good ever came from the word TALK.
Callum: I have to agree.
Zev: I would have thought experienced Lucca would know that.
Me: How would I know? I’ve never had a woman say that to me before. Never has a woman rejected me.
Roman: Wait. Are you getting rejected?
Callum: I thought you were asking for a friend.
