Page 24

DAVINA

It was right after leaving the nail salon when I spotted an email from Deke that I knew would cause a rift in our friendship.

Can we text instead?

He’d included his number in the email too.

I blew a breath, dropping my phone into the cup holder and driving home. I wasn’t sure why his simple question made my heart stutter. I tried not to think too much about it. Tish would be coming over again, and this time she was bringing sushi. I figured I’d discuss the Deke matter with her later.

I decided to drive the long way home—the one that took me past the graveyard where Lewis was buried.

It’d been almost three months since my last visit. Each time I went back made me feel lonelier and made the reality harder to bear. A part of me didn’t think he was there. His soul was with God now, and that body in the grave was just a deteriorating vessel. Still, it was nice knowing his physical presence was somewhere I could find.

Tish was already parked in my driveway when I pulled up, and it was no surprise that she was in the house when I walked in. She and Octavia were the only two people with keys to my place.

Tish had already prepared a tray of various types of sushi along with a mini saucer of soy sauce and a glass bowl of edamame. She carried the tray to the coffee table in the living room as I placed my purse and keys down.

“You’re just in time for some good ole sushi!”

On this night, the premiere of some reality show involving a bunch of rich, dramatic housewives was streaming, and Tish loved that kind of stuff. Whatever it was, I wasn’t very tuned in. I was too busy reading the email from Deke again as I popped edamame beans into my mouth.

Why did he want to text now ? Texting him would have been taking a step up ... and it was a step I didn’t want to risk. And not only that, but he didn’t respond to my last email, like I thought he would.

I mean, sure, the whole entertaining other girls bit was a little over the top, but I thought it’d be funny or that he’d get a kick out of it. And, okay, maybe a part of me wanted to know if he was entertaining other women and, if he was, why he was wasting time emailing me. Not that it mattered much, but still. Emails were just that: emails. I could get back to them whenever I had time, but texting was more prompt. More intimate. Texting required a sort of personal dedication.

“... and then she had the nerve to let the door close in my face. Uh, hello?” Tish snapped her fingers in my face, and I blinked up at her. “Where is your head at?” she asked with a soft laugh.

“Sorry. Yeah, it’s here. What happened again?”

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, biting into a piece of tempura sushi.

I watched as she chewed, then followed it with a gulp of strawberry Fanta. I rested my upper back against the nearest sofa and set my phone down.

“It’s just Deke.”

Tish’s eyes expanded as she took another bite. “Deke?” she garbled around a mouthful.

“Yeah. We’ve been emailing each other here and there. And I told you about the other night at the party, remember? How I needed some air and a little time to myself because I was thinking about Lewis?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, what I didn’t tell you was that Deke found me.”

She tilted her head, swallowing the bite of sushi. “He found you? What do you mean?”

“I was sitting by myself near the fountain. I guess he noticed I was upset and he came looking for me.”

This time her mouth twitched, and she tried bottling her amusement. “ Ohh ,” she sang.

I fought a smile. “Tish, no. It’s not like that.”

“A famous athlete who could’ve been using his free time to do literally anything else decides to go after a crying woman and check on her? Yeah, okay.” She scoffed. “Tell me how it’s not like that?”

“Okay—maybe you’re right. But when it came to the party, I think he was genuinely concerned, so he checked in. I told you he lost his brother, right? And he knows about Lew. Maybe he just wanted to be nice.”

Tish pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.

“What?” I asked. “What are you not saying?”

“How long have you two been talking to each other?”

“He reached out around the time you sent the email about me taking a week off. He sent his condolences, but it’s like ever since then, we haven’t really stopped staying in touch with each other. It’s been a few weeks now. And it was okay at first, you know? Just harmless. But he just sent me his number today. Look.”

I unlocked my phone and showed her the email. Tish read it, then took the phone from me to scroll through all the others.

“Tish!” I laughed.

She lowered the phone and looked into my eyes. “He likes you, Vina.”

“No,” I moaned. “Don’t say that.” I pressed the heel of my palm to my forehead.

“Oh my goodness, Vina, this is just like a rom-com movie where two people coincidentally meet each other and they start getting to know each other through love notes or text messages. I love shit like this!”

I leaned forward to snatch my phone out of her hand. “I think it’s nice that he cares and that he checks in to make sure I’m okay, but I’ve already told him we can only be friends. I’m not looking for anything more than that right now. I just feel bad because I don’t want to text him.”

“Why? Because you know it’ll lead to something you can’t resist?”

I opened my mouth but clamped it shut again.

Tish smirked. “Listen, he’s a man , Davina. You think he gives a fuck about that just friends thing? In your last email you said something along the lines of him entertaining other women, but if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, a man like Deke Bishop can’t entertain more than one woman at a time. At least not with emails and texting. He’s a busy person who is constantly on the move. I doubt he has time to sit around emailing a bunch of women all day and night, but he makes the time in his schedule for you . Do you see what I’m getting at here?”

“Nope, sure don’t,” I said as she stood up with her empty plastic cup.

“All I know is for a man who is famous , with a schedule as hectic as his, that means something. People make time for the things they want, Davina. If he’s finding time to send your favorite flowers, to email you for weeks just to stay in touch, and to find you near fountains during parties, that’s more than friendly territory, even if you don’t want to admit it. Just give him your damn number already, girl. It won’t kill you.” Tish walked around the ottoman to reach the kitchen, and while she refilled her cup with red soda, my heart sank to my stomach.

She was right, but I still couldn’t bring myself to text him.

Instead, I darkened the screen of my phone and figured I’d take a step back from whatever this thing was Deke and I had going on.