Maya’s cell rang then, saving me from having to elaborate on my thoughts about the flowers. She answered it, and I was honestly relieved when a few moments later, she informed me she had to go tend to her restaurant, and would probably be there for the rest of the day. I turned off the grill and put away the food for another day, kissing her goodbye as I left.
At home, I plopped down on the couch with another beer, I wondered how the hell I’d gone from screwing countless women I didn’t really care about, to having one I actually liked, who was willing to like me back, and another who I…. who I what? I hesitated to say I loved Tori, because that type of connection took time to build, and time was something she hadn’t given me. That night, in Chicago… what I felt for her was indescribable, and if she had given me a little more time, I would have figured it out. We could have figured it out together, but she was hell bent on pushing me away, and those stupid flowers proved that. She was too wrapped up in what her computer told her about me to see what was right in her face.
I knew I needed to let it go, but that was easier said than done. It wasn’t fair to Maya that I was holding out hope that Tori was going to suddenly change her mind, and hell… it wasn’t fair to me either. I pulled my cell out of my pocket, and considered calling her, even though I knew she wouldn’t answer. It wouldn’t have surprised me to know she had gone so far as to block my number, but I wasn’t trying to find out if that was true, so I didn’t dial. Now that we were no longer her clients, I didn’t have to worry about seeing her unless she was around Des. I’d gone without meeting her while she was friends with my sister for five years, so there was no reason I couldn’t continue to avoid her now. It was time to start getting over Tori, so I could be all in with Maya.
— Tori —
“No, not again! Come on, baby, please turn on for mama.” I tried, for what had to be the 30th time, to get my car to start, with no luck. It had done this to me a couple of times in the last month, but I was always able to get it on. Unfortunately for me, today wasn’t one of those days. I couldn’t get it do more than a few sputters, like it was gasping for air, and now I couldn’t even get it to do that, because I’d killed the battery trying to get it to start.
“Great! Just. Freaking. Great. Ugh!”
Frustrated, I scrubbed my hands over my face and pushed my hair back, so I could stare out at the pouring rain battering my windshield. I could call Mel, but she was in Houston with friends for the weekend, and my parents were afraid of driving in the rain.
Shit.
This was one of the problems with your friends and their helpful husbands being long distance. I couldn’t call any of them for help. For about a microsecond, I considered calling Avery, but that was out of the question. He and I weren’t friends, at least not anymore. If the contempt he wore in his eyes during our weekly meetings for Matched was an indication of how he felt about me, he would probably laugh my ear off through the phone before he hung up to play kissy-face with his new girlfriend.
That was the goal, Tori.
Even though I knew that, an irrational part of me was still hurt that he moved on so easily, while I was barely holding it together from day to day. But that wasn’t his fault. It was mine.
So no, I definitely wasn’t about to call Avery, but the thought of him did give me an idea. I pulled out my phone to look up the number, and within a few seconds, I was connected.
A cheerful woman’s voice answered the phone. “Thanks for calling Ignition, how can we be of service?”
Clearing my throat, I tried to sound as matter of fact as I could. “I’m calling to speak with Nick, if he’s available.”
“Sure, darlin’. Hold on.”
A few seconds later, I recognized Nick’s deep, booming voice and southern drawl as he came on the line. “This is Nick, what can I do for you?”
I took a deep breath. “Um… Hi, Nick. I don’t know if you remember me or not, but this is Tori Kennedy… Avery’s friend?”