Page 14 of Unstoppable You (Sapph in the City #6)

Chapter Fourteen

James

It wasn’t until later that night, after I’d shut down from work and had eaten shrimp tacos for dinner and made myself a bowl of popcorn with lime juice and Tajin on it that she got back to me about the recommendations.

Okay I limited myself to two books. I could have given you more, but we’re starting easy.

She also sent me links for the two books. I read through both of the blurbs and she had absolutely nailed it. The fantasy book was sapphic, and the other one wasn’t. Interesting. I bought both ebooks immediately, as well as the paperbacks from Between the Sheets. Gotta support your local bookseller. Maybe I’d order a book a week just to bother her. Book order flirting.

No , not flirting. I wasn’t flirting with her. You didn’t flirt with people who were so obviously not into you. I’d gotten all the “crush on a straight girl” stuff out of my system already. At this point in my life, I was only interested in people who were equally interested in me.

Delaney was off limits .

Thank you. I sincerely appreciate it. I wish there was something I could do for you. Have anything that needs a good name?

I didn’t think she needed any research done, or author contracts read or emails sent to cover designers, so that was what I could offer her as far as my professional expertise.

Okay, how about my air fryer?

She attached a picture of a standard black air fryer with her message and I burst out laughing. I hadn’t expected her to take me up on her offer.

Oh, this could be fun.

Does your air fryer have a gender? I asked.

I asked them and they said genderqueer.

This time I nearly choked on a laugh. Delaney was funny . I guess I’d known that already but seeing it in real time was a pleasant surprise.

Genderqueer air fryer. Got it. Let me work on a list and I’ll get back to you with some options.

I threw my professional hat on and got to work.

Well. It wasn’t really work, but I was enjoying myself. I searched for names of animated appliance characters which also led me down a rabbit hole of children’s books. I managed to emerge eventually, but my eyes were burning, and I realized I’d been at this for too long. There went my Monday evening. Guess this was going to be a multi-day project.

I shouldn’t have agreed to this. I’d gotten too excited that she was giving me attention and now my feelings were going to get absolutely crushed.

I was in a mess of my own making.

* * *

Over the next few days, I did my best not to devote too much time to this air fryer name project. I couldn’t seem to stop myself from adding names to an already voluminous list. I was overdoing this silly little request, but it was for Delaney.

You’re really taking this seriously, huh Delaney responded when I told her I was still working on the list on Wednesday.

It’s just a fun project to do when I have a spare minute I lied.

By the way, your books should be heading to you tomorrow. I packed them up today so they’re ready to go. You really think you’re so sneaky.

Maybe I wanted you to know I sent.

What do you want from me, James? Even seeing my name typed by her gave me a thrill. Almost as good as hearing her say it.

Nothing. I told you. I don’t want anything from you. Anything you give me is a gift.

I realized how it sounded the second I read it back to myself in the context of our conversation.

Fuck. I’d revealed too much again. This was what came with talking to her too much. With dropping my guard.

Well now you’re definitely blowing smoke up my ass, James. Come on. Did you really think I was going to buy that?

Phew. She thought I was being sarcastic. That was so much better than her knowing that I was sincere. You couldn’t read tone in a message and that had worked to my advantage this time.

It was worth a try, wasn’t it? I responded, playing along.

She and I had been furiously messaging back and forth since Monday and I still couldn’t believe we were talking like two regular people.

I’d also heard from Lea, who had been sending me funny stories from teaching Pilates and fitness memes that cracked me up. I needed to get to her classes more often and maybe see if we could hang out again. Lea was a solid potential friend.

Connor hadn’t reached out and I was starting to get suspicious, but I was also grateful that he wasn’t pestering me and neither were my parents. They wouldn’t start the full-scale attack until the holiday season started and then it would be relentless. Every year it was a nightmare and I wanted to disassociate about it as long as I could.

It’s Millie Delaney said after I’d pared down my name list to my standard ten options. Millie meant “gentle strength” or “strong in work” and it was really cute as well. I’d gotten very creative and silly with my suggestions.

Millie was one of my favorites too. I was hoping you’d pick that one.

Delaney had named her air fryer because of me. I had named an object in her home. It wasn’t her declaring that she was actually queer and in love with me, but it was something . Probably the best I’d ever get.

Millie says hello was accompanied by a picture of the air fryer with a sticky note with HELLO written on it in swooping letters.

I needed to see her again. I wanted to ask her what she was doing this weekend and suggest maybe we go out for drinks or something. Or a walk. Or to get an obscene amount of croissants again. Something, anything. I was setting myself up for an epic crash and I’d only have myself to blame.

Are you going to Pilates this weekend? she asked, as if she’d been listening to my thoughts.

Maybe, why?

It took her a few minutes to answer. I was planning to go on Saturday afternoon. You know, if you were going to go. What did that mean?

Are you saying you want me to go on Saturday afternoon or you want me to avoid that class? I responded. Better to spell it out than dance around things.

Ugh fine, I meant if you were going to go on Saturday afternoon I would also be there. And I guess that would be okay with me.

Wow, she was putting in a lot of effort to invite me to go to Pilates with her. If that was what she was doing.

Delaney. Are you saying that you want me to meet you at Pilates? You can just say that.

She sent me several angry emojis. I’m not INVITING you. I’m saying that if you came to that class that I would also be there.

Semantics. Very adorable semantics.

Ohhhhh, got it. So if I were to show up to the afternoon class, would there be a space next to you to put my mat? Or would I be forced to be on the other side of the room so you can pretend we don’t know each other?

I really wished I could see her face.

Why do you have to make this into a big thing? I don’t care where you put your mat, James. Forget I even said anything.

I took a risk and video called her. It took a few seconds before she picked up.

Her face filled the screen and I stopped breathing for a second.

“Really?” she asked, looking annoyed. Her hair was on top of her head in a messy bun and she wore a loose T-shirt as she leaned against her couch.

“What? I wanted to get clarity on this whole Pilates situation.”

She scrunched her face up and glared at me. “There is no situation. I was just… Whatever. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

“Because I helped you name your air fryer, Delaney,” I said, my tone serious. “Do you know how much time and effort I put into that?”

She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were just the tiniest bit pink. “You didn’t have to,” she mumbled.

“No, but I had fun. I can name some other stuff in your apartment if you want. Maybe this is a whole new revenue stream for me. I bet I could get super rich people to pay me to name their stuff.” There was an idea if I ever needed some quick cash. Appliance namer to the stars?

“You’re such a weirdo,” Delaney said, but she was smiling.

“You’re the one who asked me to name your air fryer,” I sang.

“Oh my god, I’m not talking to you anymore,” she said, covering her face, but she was laughing. This was definitely better than just sharing messages back and forth.

“Hey, Delaney,” I said, purely for the pleasure of using her name. “I’ll see you at Pilates on Saturday.”

She huffed. “Fine.”

“Did you want to coordinate outfits? Just send me some options.”

“Bye, James,” she said and ended the call.

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face for the rest of the night.