Did it matter?
Talking about my personal life would never be my favoritething to do, but I wasn’t going to hide Ryan, especially since there was noreason to. But Dare…I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to do aboutthat part of my life.
Pushing away worries that I didn’t need to focus on at themoment, I glanced at the phone and saw the time. Almost five. Dare had to worklate and on the other side of the moon, so it would be the first night thisweek he wouldn’t stay over with us.
Not that he was moving in.
Oh no, he wasn’t pressuring us. He just never really left.
Ryan thought it was cute and I had to agree with him. Butthe casual way Dare was slowly inching deeper into our lives made it easier toimagine him moving in completely. Ryan just couldn’t decide if Dare was doingit on purpose.
I wasn’t sure either. All I really knew was that I likedhaving all of us together, but realizing it was just going to be the two of usfor the evening made me think. We hadn’t been on a date with just the two of ussince we’d first gotten together.
Sure, we’d hung out on nights when Dare wasn’t with us, butit hadn’t been actual dates.
Making a quick decision, I reached for the phone and dialedRyan. He picked up so quickly I knew he’d been counting down the minutes untilhe could leave. “Hello.”
Grinning, I pretended him answering on the first ring wasperfectly normal. “Hey, I hope I’m not interrupting.”
He scoffed and I pictured him rolling his eyes as he playedalong. “Oh, you know, just seeing what I can finish up before the end of theday. Thursdays are always so busy.”
That was code for someone was in listening distance, so Ichuckled. “How about I rescue you and take you out to dinner?”
“Really?” I could almost see the smile on his face. “Like adate?”
“Absolutely.” Thinking quickly, I smiled. “How about I meetyou over at that steak place you like in about an hour?”
He chuckled quietly. “Are you feeling generous because youknow I feel like steak or did you just want cheesecake?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Both. But can’t you let a guysound like he’s being generous?”
Ryan snorted. “No, I have to know whether I owe you later orif you’re going to owe me. Now I don’t know which it’s going to be.”
He was so insane.
But the owing part left my mind wandering in unexpecteddirections.
“How about we figure that out later?” He huffed, but thedrama faded quickly.
“Deal. But since I’m being cooperative, I think you’re goingto owe me.” As Ryan chuckled quietly, his excitement for our date and just thegeneral teasing had me feeling lighter. “Alright, you finish working because Iknow you’ve got a list of things to do, and I’ll see you at six.”
He might’ve been pretending to work, but he was right, I hadthings that needed to get done. “Deal. See you then.”
Disconnecting the call, I stared at the phone for severallong moments before I took a deep breath. “Fuck it.”
I could do it.
Bringing up Dare’s name in my text messages, I let outanother deep breath and started typing. It took entirely too long for me to getthe words out, each letter feeling like it took a thousand years.
I’m taking Ryan out on a date tonight. We agreed to askyou to approve certain things and I wanted to end our date with somethingpersonal.
I hit send even though it sounded insane. I just wasn’t sureI could actually spell out the fact that I wanted to make love with Ryantonight or even if it was a good idea. It wasn’t exactly sexting, but it didn’tseem like a good idea to write out.
And maybe I was overthinking the whole thing.
Dare’s event hadn’t started yet, so it didn’t surprise mewhen he responded quickly.
Such a good boy.