Page 31 of Fortuity
ChapterTwelve
Faith
Discoveringwhat it meant to be in a relationship with Dillon over the next few weeks was fun. Exciting. More interesting than Iexpected.
Both of us had busy schedules. Classes. My volunteer work. His internship at his dad’s company. But we still made time for each other. Dinners out. Movies. Bowling. Mini golf. Ice skating. Studysessions.
We did all the traditional stuff, but Dillon also got creative with a few of his date ideas. For one of our dinner dates, we went to three different restaurants. A tapas place for appetizers, pho for entrées, and French for dessert. It was like an international food tour, and one of the best meals I’d ever had. Second only to the turkey and sides Elaine had made onThanksgiving.
Another time, we drove almost an hour away to go to a pickle festival. I hadn’t even known pickle festivals existed, but Dillon had somehow managed to find one because he thought I’d enjoy it. When we’d had lunch on campus together a few days earlier, I’d stolen Dillon’s pickle off his plate. I loved them, but I never let the cafeteria staff put one on mine because they were so high in sodium and I had zero willpower when it came to their salty deliciousness. I enjoyed the hell out of the one I snagged from Dillon, though. A little bit too much because it’d inspired him to make some jokes about it all day. Sexual ones, of course. He was a guy, after all. We had such a good time at the festival, those jokes actually sounded kinda funny by the end oftheday.
We’d also gone to the zoo, a trivia night at a local bar, and a wine tasting. It’d gotten to the point where I never knew what to expect from him, but I never doubted I’d enjoy whatever Dillon had comeupwith.
“What’re you and the hottie doing tonight?” Christine, my roommate since our freshman year, was lying on her stomach on her bed. She had a spiral notebook, a variety of highlighters and pens, two textbooks, and her cell phone spread out in frontofher.
“No idea.” I finished tying my laces and wiggled my feet before getting up. “He only told me to wear comfortableshoes.”
“He likes to keep you guessing,doesn’the?”
“Which amuses you tonoend.”
“You can’t really blame me for that,” she laughed. “Not when I’m having a blast watching you leave your comfort zone without a single complaint. I’ve tried for years to get you to loosen up and have some fun, but you always had a perfectly good explanation for why you couldn’t come out with me. Your health. A paper you had to write. A test you needed to study for. A high school visit that you needed to wake up for super early the nextmorning.”
When she listed my reasons out that way, it sounded like I’d been trying to avoid spending time with her. But that hadn’t been my intention. Not at all. Christine was the closest thing I’d ever had to a best friend, and I was a total asshat for not taking the time to hang out with her more often over the years—even if the parties she liked to go to weren’t my thing. “You know they weren’t excuses, right? I wasn’t trying to avoid spending time with you or anythinglikethat.”
“I know,” she reassured me. “And I understand, Faith. When they paired us up as roommates, we were strangers whose only connection was the time we spent in the system. But I’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the past few years, and I didn’t take it personally that you weren’t into the same thingsIwas.”
That was a huge relief, but not much of a surprise since Christine was much easier going than I was. “I’m glad because I’d hate for you to think that I don’t consider you myfriend.”
“Of course you do.” She rolled her blue eyes and laughed, tossing her long, blonde hair over one shoulder. “You never would have agreed to live with me for three more years if you didn’t secretlyloveme.”
“Yup. Total girl crush. It’s why I had to limit how much time I spent in your presence. So I didn’t fall totally in love with you,” Ideadpanned.
“I totally get it. I mean”—she fluttered her eyelashes—“everyone can’t be as awesome as me.Right?”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “That’s exactly what I like best about you. Yourawesomeness.”
“Better not let your hottie hear you say that. He might get jealous of how into me youreallyare.”
It was so wrong of me, but I couldn’t help smiling a little bit because she was right.Ish.Dillon wasn’t a crazy jealous person who resented my roommate, but he had a thing about other guys looking at me. He swore it happened all the time, but I figured it was just a convenient excuse for all the public displays of affection because I rarely noticed guys checkingmeout.
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking I don’t see that smug little grin of yours and know exactly what’s behind it,” sheteased.
“But can you blame meforit?”
“Not even a tiny bit,” she giggled. “Your man is totally into you, and he’s hot with acapitalH.”
“He’s also going to be here any minute.” I went over to my desk and checked my purse to make sure I had money and my ID. After a quick search through the contents, I dropped my phone inside and headed forthedoor.
“Faith?” I opened it before I looked back at Christine. “Seriously, we all have damage from our pasts. Part of yours was that it was hard for you to let go and just have fun. But it made sense. You were focused on doing the right thing because you felt like you had a debt to pay because of yourkidney.”
She was right. In some ways, I still did. But then I reminded myself of what Dr. Stewart had told me about living my life to the fullest and honoring their gift by being happy. I gave her a jerky nod as I openedthedoor.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you aren’t letting any of that get in the way of you spending time with yourhottienow.”
“Me, too.” My reply was muffled by the shutting of the door behind me, but it was heartfelt. I was grateful to the magnetic pull I felt towards Dillon because it’d shaken me up. Taken me out of my comfort zone and into an unknown that was better than I could have possiblydreamed.
For someone who hadn’t been in a relationship since high school, Dillon was the perfect boyfriend. At least for me. He was attentive, sending me texts when we were apart and calling me on the nights we didn’t get together. He was observant too, noticing my likes and dislikes and taking them into consideration when he made plans. Even with the little stuff, like grabbing an extra bottle of water whenever we had lunch together and telling me to take it with me to my next class. Or keeping healthy snacks in the fridge at his place for when we hung out overthere.
