“I’m sure you’re wondering why I told you this, right?”
“The thought did cross my mind,” I said.
Bliss shifted from one foot to another. “I think you should go talk to her.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “Can I be honest?”
“Of course.”
“You know you messed up, right?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “How so?”
“You kissed her, and then you let her leave when you should’ve walked her to her car.”
I blinked.
“Now that she’s had some distance, some time to process everything, she’s not going to answer your call. Even if she wants to.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “So my question to you is why should I bother then?”
“Because I know my cousin. Trust me. She wants to answer the call, but you have to make her see that it’s safe to do so. I have to go. The wine kiosk is near Macy’s. Good luck.” She patted my arm and started walking back to her group.
“Wait?” I called after her.
She turned to face me. “Yes?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“It’s what I do.” She waved at me and rejoined her group.
And I sent a text to Taylar letting her know I had to handle something and took my ass over to the wine tasting kiosk.
Sloane was seated at a table, looking down at her phone. But no date. I took that as a sign and approached her, sliding into the seat across from her. “I’m still waiting on dinner.” She glanced up at me, eyes wide. “Since you said it would be nice.”
Her mouth fell open. “Uh…”
I reached out, placed my hand under her chin and gently closed her mouth. “You wouldn’t be so surprised to see me if you’d actually answered one of my calls.”
Sloane cleared her throat. “I…” She grumbled a curse. “Okay, I suck.”
I chuckled, grateful for her candor. “Glad to know you feel the same way I do.”
The corners of her mouth quirked up. Then, she laughed. “So you’re agreeing that I suck?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “You said it first.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I probably should’ve at least texted you back.”
“What would you have said?” I challenged.
Shrugging, she admitted, “That I can’t go to dinner with you.”
Damn. “That’s… honest.”
“I know no other way to be.” Sloane sipped from her glass of wine. “When we met, the best part about the encounter was that we didn’t know each other. Because of that, you’ve always been this… I don’t know. You’ve always been this dream, my escape. It was perfect, exactly what I needed. I’m hesitant to ruin that with reality.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Does that make sense?”
