“Aw, don’t make me blush, Dawby-Bear,” he joked, laughing as I growled at the sickening nickname. “Alright, I’m out. I’ve got people to do and things to see.”
“Pretty sure you have that backwards.”
“I said what I said. See you tomorrow!”
He hung up and I breathed a laugh at the chaos of the last few minutes.I tried to start a message to Theo, but my fingers just hovered over the screen. It was stupid, but I felt nervous about texting him. It’d been a couple of days since we’d struck up our truce at the barn and I still hadn’t gotten up the nerve to talk to him again. Fuck, I was being a pansy about this. I wanted to be his friend again and friends texted each other. Nothing weird about it.
Yet I typed, deleted and retyped more than a dozen times before finally shooting off something simple.
ME
Hey, how are you?
I cringed at the lame attempt, but whatever. It was out there. My phone buzzed in response thirty seconds later.
THEO
Okay, I guess
Be honest. How long did you overthink that text before you sent it?
Damn it, he knew me too well.
ME
Don’t know what you’re talking about
THEO
That long, huh?
ME
Shut up…
Do you have any plans tomorrow?
THEO
Nothing right now, but you know I charge for appearances. What did you have in mind?
ME
My friends and I are taking a boat out on the lake for a few hours. Interested?
Text bubbles kept popping up and disappearing, but no response came. I wondered if he was nervous about seeing my friends again after we’d made epic asses of ourselves at my party. I didn’t really blame him. I was even a bit anxious to reintroduce Theo to them, but I didn’t want to hide him away. I wanted him to know my friends and be included in my life.
THEO
Are you sure they’re cool with me coming?
ME
For sure. It won’t be a big deal, trust me
THEO
What about my appearance fee?
