“Surrounded by women, huh?”
“Mom, grandmothers, three sisters, loads of aunts. And four nieces have been added to the mix. They drive me crazy sometimes, but I love all of them. They keep me on my toes.” He chuckled and my chest squeezed again.
“Holy crap. Are you the only boy?” I could feel my heart start to slow down with the subject change.
“Sometimes it feels like it.” He laughed. “But there is one male cousin. And my dad, grandfathers, and a few uncles, of course. Still, we all know not to mess with ‘fine.’”
I couldn’t help but snort.
“So, where do you want to go to dinner tonight? I can pick you up.”
“What? Oh, I just said that. We don’t have to have dinner. After all, I just saw you yesterday, and the picture seems to be working.”
“Roger showed up acting like a prick, so it’s not working enough, and we both need to eat. Unless you already had plans?”
His constant consideration was so refreshing, and it made me sad that I expected so little. “Uh, I don’t.”
“We could do takeout at my place—or your place, if you’d rather. But I think it’s a good idea to post a picture of us out on another date in public.”
I sighed. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“Great. What’s your favorite place? I’ll make a reservation.”
“Umm, well, there’s this little Italian place that I love. We could go there.”
We settled on a time and he said he’d meet me there, which was good. I wasn’t ready for him to come pick me up. That just seemed too real.
“Dani, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. I’m—” I hesitated, letting out a small laugh. “I really am fine. Roger will eventually find someone else to annoy and leave me alone. I appreciate what you’re doing, Gabe.”
“Just call if you need anything else. I can swoop in if he shows up again.”
I chuckled. “I’ll make sure to let you know. See you tonight.”
“Bye, beautiful. Does that work as a pet name?”
“Yeah, it’s—”
We both saidfineat the same time, and I laughed. A real laugh.
As I ended the call, I refused to acknowledge the tingle of warmth spreading through my body at both his endearment and how stupidly endearing he was as a whole.
Thankfully, I was almost at J’s, so I could focus on lunch and not my fake date tonight.
***
Six hours later, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror one last time. I was pretty sure I’d gone through my entire wardrobe to find the perfect outfit, berating myself the entire time for acting like a woman about to go on her first date with her crush. But we were going to take pictures and post them online, so I wanted to look my best.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself was my reason for trying everything on once before settling on a long, green, muted floral sundress. It was my favorite dress and I wanted to feel completely confident tonight after Roger had put me on edge. I’dalso added a simple denim jacket and black boots since Colorado weather in the fall was always changing.
“Why didn’t I just put this one on first?” I asked Maisie, my tortoiseshell cat. She stared at me, flicking her long tail up and down.
My phone buzzed and I glanced at it on the other side of my sink.Ugh. But at least it wasn’t Roger.
Dad: We need to figure out dinner plans when I’m in town next week. I’ll be at the Montreal games in Denver and Colorado Springs if you want to join. Joining the broadcast team for a few games this season.
Dad: Or you’ll probably already be there since you’re dating Tucks now. From Jenzy to Tucks, huh??
