Page 26 of Just My Luck

Before I could respond, she marched out my door, shutting it behind her.

I wanted to throw something at it. To rage. To rush after her and convince her to cancel it and any others she had arranged.

I pulled out my phone and shot her a text before I could really think things through.

“You’re doing this on purpose.”

I stared at my screen, then watched as several dots started flashing while she typed.

“What?”

I wanted to throw the thing.

“Cancel your plans.”

“No.”

I typed the word please then deleted it.

“What is your end game here?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“What do you want from me?”

“If you don’t know, then I’m not going to be the one to tell you.”

I closed my eyes and felt my chest tighten.

“Come to dinner at my place tonight instead.”

This response took a little longer.

“Thanks, but I have a date.”

I balled my fists and glanced toward the windows. Fall was almost in full bloom outside. How had so much time passed since our first trip. The summer flashed by so quickly. Now, the leaves had changed colors without me noticing.

Nova loved fall. Halloween was her favorite holiday. Hell, it was mine too. Less than two months to go until then.

What would the holiday look like if she was seriously dating someone else? I’d hated those times in our past when she’d been with someone, because it had meant that she couldn’t spend the evening with me.

Normally, our costumes would be related somehow. Last year, I’d been a huge donut while Nova had dressed as a cup of coffee. The year before that, Nova had been Pennywise and I had dressed like Georgie from IT. We’d ended up at a bar in downtown Denver where I’d spent the night flirting with a redhead dressed as the redhead from Roger Rabbit, while Nova had hung out with Sofia all evening.

Since I refused to beg, I set my phone down and went back to work. Fine. If she wanted to play games, two could play.

But when I looked through my options of women to call to go out with, my gut twisted. I didn’t want to go out with anyone else.

Instead, I sent a text to my brother Chris. He was supposed to be back in town this weekend.

“You around?”

The response came almost instantly. “At the house now. Mom’s serving up her Italian chicken.”

I glanced at the clock and quickly added, “Heading up, I’ll grab some beers. There’s gotta be a game on. Right?”

“We’re going to watch the Broncos and Packers. Game starts at six.”

“I’ll see if Rick is free.”