Leah lay in her bed, holding her cell phone against her stomach as she stared up at the ceiling. The more defined her plans became, the faster her heart pounded in her chest. She had thought about it the whole way home from her father’s house; after spending the week isolated from Danny, she knew she still wanted him in her life; she just wasn’t sure in what capacity. Could she begin a relationship with him, knowing what was at stake? Or would it make more sense to remain his friend?
Would she even be able to draw the line at friendship, if that’s what she decided?
The only way she was going to figure that out would be to spend time with him.
She didn’t trust herself alone with him. Not yet. Not with the unresolved sexual tension still raging between them every time they were in the same room together. But this weekend would be the perfect chance to see him again—and to let the people who mattered to her get acquainted with him.
Before she had even made the conscious decision to do so, she was scrolling through her contacts. Her thumb hovered over the call button for just a second, and then she closed her eyes and tapped it before bringing the phone to her ear.
He answered after the first ring.
“Hello?”
Butterflies fluttered through her stomach at the familiar sound of his voice, and she smiled. “Hi.”
“Leah,” he said softly. He cleared his throat before he said, “How are you?”
“I’m doing okay. You?”
“Not too bad.”
A pregnant silence filled the space between them, and Leah chewed on her bottom lip as she twirled the ends of her hair between her fingers. “So, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
She released her lip before she said, “Do you want to have dinner this weekend?”
When he didn’t respond right away, she said, “Robyn gets back from her honeymoon tomorrow, so me and Holly and her boyfriend are going over there Saturday night as sort of a ‘welcome home’ thing.”
It took him a few seconds to respond, and when he finally spoke, he seemed taken aback. “And you want me to go with you?”
“Yeah. If you want to. It’ll be pretty laid-back. You know, just hanging out. If you have plans or something, it’s okay—”
“No, I don’t have plans,” he said. “I, um…I can go. It sounds fun.”
“Great,” she said, her pulse kicking up a notch in anticipation. “Do you want to meet at my place around six?”
“Yeah, that works.”
“Okay. So I’ll see you Saturday then.”
“Okay,” he said, still sounding caught off guard.
“Alright,” she said, coiling her hair around her finger. “And…Danny?”
“Yeah?”
Leah closed her eyes. “I also called to tell you…that I miss you.”
He exhaled into the phone, and this time when he spoke, his words were flooded with relief and something else she couldn’t quite place.
“I miss you too, Leah.”