Page 37

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen yet. She’s someone I could see being in a relationship with, but I don’t want to rush into anything. Gwen comes first, and I’m about to add a new job to my plate. How much can I pile on?”
“You can always see how it goes, and if it’s too much, you can end things with her.”
“Right.”
“You know I hate it when you say that.”
“Right.” I laugh.
He punches my arm. “I gave you good advice.”
“I know you did. I’ll think about your wise words later.” I pick up my bottle. “For now, I’d like to finish this beer.”
“And then have one more?” Isaac asks.
“Maybe.”
He smiles. “That’s good. My advice improves with every beer I drink.”
I don’t want to discuss Mae anymore.
Even though I mentioned her to Isaac, I didn’t share many details about her. We may be hooking up temporarily, but I want to keep her to myself.
* * *
This house feels so lonely without Gwen here. Raising the remote, I flip through a few channels and settle on the local news.
After a few minutes of barely watching, my mind wanders to Mae, and I wonder what she’s doing. There’s no reason why I can’t simply ask her.
I have her phone number.
Grabbing my phone from my nightstand, I tap on her name and smile. I added her to my contacts as Sunshine. I type out a text and send it.
Hi, Mae. How was your weekend?
I hope she replies. If she didn’t save my number, she might be wondering who the fuck is texting her this late.
It’s only a couple of minutes before she answers.
It was nice. How was yours?
Gwen was here, and we stayed busy. But it passed too quickly.
The weekends have a way of doing that.
Where are you now?
What do you mean, where am I? It’s well after eleven p.m. and I have to work in the morning. I’m in bed.
Her reply makes me smile even though she killed my opportunity to ask what she’s wearing.
I figured as much but didn’t want to assume. Plenty of twenty-somethings go out at night and still manage to make it to work the next day.
Not this one. I need sleep to function properly.
Is that my cue to stop texting you?
Maybe.