9
“You look like you have a spring in your step,” Allison said.
Mia was at work the following morning. The dinner with Jackson’s family was fun, but she knew his brothers were trying to get him riled up by continually bringing up her dates. Despite them being convinced that Jackson was getting jealous, she still wasn’t so sure.
Allison had already taken up residence in the library that morning and had been punching away on her computer. But now she was leaning back in her chair, staring at Mia as she shelved books.
Mia looked at her and smiled. “Do I?”
“What’s going on?”
“Um, I’m working?” Mia pushed a book into its spot on the shelf before pushing the cart to the next aisle. Allison stood up and followed her.
“Seriously, I haven’t seen you this happy in… well, never. Except maybe when you hang out with Jackson.” Allison’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Did you hook up with Jackson?”
“What? No. We’re just friends.”
“Point being…”
“Point being, he doesn’t see me that way. Or he didn’t use to.”
Allison’s eyebrows shot up. “Usedto? Oh, please. Go on. I must hear this.”
Mia laughed. “I don’t know. Over the weekend, we went to Brewbirds. While we were sitting there, Jeff approached us and asked me out for dinner. Jackson almost looked… jealous, I guess?”
“Was Jeff another plant?”
“I think so. He’s good friends with Noah, so I assumed he put him up to it.”
Allison put a hand on her hip. “Dang. Those boys are working hard at getting you two together. I’m surprised Jackson hasn’t figured it out since they’re sending in their friends. Did you say ‘yes’ to the date?”
“Yeah. I figured it would be fun if he’s serious. I’m not getting any younger. And if Jackson doesn’t want to make a move, then I need to find someone else to settle down with. You never know. Something may come of it.”
Allison remained silent while Mia pushed another book on the shelf. Mia looked over to find Allison watching her.
“What?”
“Are you giving up on Jackson?”
That question had many feelings running through her. She suddenly felt devastated at the thought of losing him to another woman. But he wasn’t hers to claim as much as she had hoped he would be someday. Even though the attention she was getting from other men was all staged, she still enjoyed having someone look at her like she mattered. It made her realize how much she wanted to find someone to be with. And if it wasn’t Jackson, then it wasn’t Jackson. The last thing she wanted to do was force him to be with her.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to keep waiting for him. At some point, I need to move on.”
Allison slowly nodded. “I wouldn’t give up yet.”
Mia’s cell phone rang in her pocket, and she pulled it out to look at the screen. Jeff’s name flashed across the front, and she flipped it around to show Allison.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mia. It’s Jeff.”
“Hey, Jeff. How are you?” Mia raised her eyebrows at Allison, who smiled before walking back to her table to give her some privacy.
“I’m doing well. I wanted to confirm our plans for dinner tonight.”
Mia played with the pages of a book sitting in her cart. “I don’t want you to feel you have to since I know Noah put you up to it. If you prefer, we can just say we did.”
Jeff lightly chuckled. “Honestly, he asked me to ask you out, but I’m not an unwilling participant. The truth is, I’ve always liked you, but I thought you were spoken for with Jackson. Noah explained what was going on, and I figured if I want to shoot my shot, I better do it now. If the end game is for you to end up with Jackson, then so be it. But maybe we’ll have fun in the meantime.”
