Page 14 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

eleven

C ara breezed into her lab Monday morning at eight a.m., right on time, and pulled up short. The familiar hum of servers and cooling systems filled the silence, but she was the only one there.

It was unusual for her to be the only one in the lab. “On time” meant late to Dr. Tanaka. Unless it was the end of the day.

Then on time meant early.

Cara dropped her lunch bag on the cold metal desk with a hallow thunk and pulled out her phone. When she didn't see a missed text or email, she thought her professor might have been in some horrible accident, so she called her phone.

After a few rings, a deep voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi, is Dr. Tanaka there?"

"Yes, but she can't come to the phone. She's—"

A yell in the background cut him off. "Just a moment, please," the man said. A second later, her professor was on the line.

"Cara?" she said in a gross, raspy voice that sounded like she’d been gargling gravel. Oh no.

"Yes…"

"Flu."

"Oh, thank God," Cara said with a laugh as she plopped onto her chair. The familiar give of warn padding felt reassuring after her momentary panic. "I thought you died, and I'd have to delay my dissertation."

Her professor let out a gargle sound, but didn't quip back with a snarky one-liner like she normally did.

She must've been very badly off.

"Just rest," Cara said, spinning in a little circle in her chair toward her screens. "I'll take care of everything here."

It was actually going to be nice to have the lab to herself. She could take her lunch whenever she wanted and listen to her music instead of the classical music her professor insisted on. Plus, she could leave early and get to golf on time.

"The meteor event is tonight. I need you to lead it."

Oh no.

"I have golf tonight," she said, thinking about how she'd left the date with Jalen last week. It had started disastrously, but Jalen actually ended up being funny and nice. She wanted to give it a chance, and she was excited to see him again.

"There's no one else—" Dr. Tanaka’s voice broke on a guttural puking sound. "I have to go," she said.

Cara reared back in disgust. "Ew, okay, I'll do it," she said.

A noise came through that might have been “thanks.” Then the line went dead.

Cara tossed her phone onto her desk and sat back with a sigh.

Well, that sucked.

She was finally coming around to Jalen. They'd texted back and forth a bit that weekend and seemed to be less awkward around each other. She'd even been studying up on golf.

She knew who Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were, and she knew the difference between a birdie and an eagle, and what a handicap meant. She'd even picked up Antonio's clubs from Max. She was ready.

But there was no way she could do both. The members of the Royal Astrological Society would start showing up at the observatory at sundown, which was the same time as her lesson.

With a sigh, she picked up her phone and started typing a message to Jalen. Halfway through, she stopped.

Maybe she should ask him to come to the observatory. It would give her a chance to show him what she did for work and school. Besides, everyone loved meteor showers, right?

She erased what she'd already typed out and started over.

Cara: I can't make it to golf, I have to go to the observatory to run a special event. There's a meteor shower tonight. Would you like to come with me?

She hit send and waited. A few moments later, a reply.

Jalen: Sorry, I don't want to miss golf. We're working on our short game tonight.

She rolled her eyes, telling herself she shouldn't be annoyed, but she was definitely annoyed. Maybe it was because he seemed completely disinterested in anything to do with her, or maybe it was because he could work on his short game literally any other night for the rest of his life.

It was just fucking mini putt.

He took golf way too seriously. But then she met him at a golf lesson, so what did she expect? And she knew he already had plans. It had been a long shot at best.

Antonio would've said yes.

She dropped her head onto her desk, then banged it a couple times against the metal for good measure. Why were the recesses of her brain filled with Antonio?

Antonio was married.

Antonio was in love with Fran. Perfect, tiny, giant-chested Fran.

And Antonio was going to be back with Fran as soon as she pulled her beautiful little head out of her stupid, sculpted ass and dropped Blake Hunter.

Antonio was not—and never would be—someone she could go to on a date with.

Still, her brain brought images to the forefront of them on a twilight date in a field of wildflowers, snuggled up in a warm blanket, stargazing under the pale moon.

She wished she knew what it felt like to be touched by him, wished she could remember the first night they met. Wished he was single and into her and wanted all the things she wanted but refused to acknowledge.

Why did he have to be so damn hot?

God, just his lips alone could—

No!

She banged her head on the cold, hard desk a few more times, forcing herself to remember the heartache etched on his face when he'd hung his head at the party and code worded “freezing.”

Fran's rejection devastated him—he was still one hundred percent in love with her.

Whatever Cara felt for him was moot.

She picked herself up and grabbed her phone, forcing out a crappy reply.

Cara: Okay.

She wondered if her disappointment came through, but a second later, she got another message from Jalen.

Jalen: I got some tickets to the Orca's game next Friday. Want to go?

She stared at the words.

A minor league hockey game?

Why would he ask her to a minor league hockey game?

She already knew the answer. Because he didn't care about putting in any effort to find out what she liked and take her on a date. He didn't seem to want to know her at all.

She was feeling like an accessory to him, like a fancy watch he put on and took with him to places he wanted to go.

She already knew that she would have a terrible time at a hockey game with him, fidgeting around and wondering what to ask him just so he would talk and fill the void. And hockey games lasted over two hours.

Ugh.

It wasn't ideal, but he was a nice guy and she wanted to see where things between them would go.

Cara: Okay

She sat back. It was too bad she didn't feel as attracted to him as she did to Antonio, but maybe that would change.

She'd have to give Jalen more thought that weekend while she was away, ask her friends what they thought, and see what they said.

If she decided she didn't want to go, she'd just change her mind later.

And besides, she needed the dating practice. The last thing she wanted was to be awkward and fidgety on her future first date with her soul mate.

Actually, what she really needed to practice was sex.

An image of Antonio in her bed flashed through her mind and she reached up and literally slapped herself across the face.

This was going to be a rough weekend.