Page 32 of In Too Deep

“Hello.”

The sound of her sweet voice has my heart skipping a beat, and I clear my throat. “Hey, Cat.”

“Lawrence?” she squeaks, and my chest swells with pride. She recognized my voice. “Why are you…? How’d you…?” She stutters over her words, and it’s so adorable, I can’t help laughing at her. “Wait…if you’re calling about Robbie, you’re wasting your time. I’m not changing my mind.”

“Robbie?” I question. “What happened with Robbie?”

“I broke up with him.”

Her answer catches me by surprise, and my head swims as I drop into my beanbag chair. “Shit, really?”

“He’s not very happy with me right now.” The sadness in her voice causes my chest to tighten. “But I never should’ve agreed to date him in the first place. It only made him feel like he had even more of a claim on me, and I don’t feel that way about him.”

“I’m sorry. I feel partly responsible for that. I never should’ve goaded you into dating him.”

She sighs, and the line goes silent for a few beats. “If you weren’t calling about Robbie, why did you call?”

Taking a deep breath, I pick up the Nerf basketball from my floor to busy my nervous hands. “I wanted to apologize for Halloween night. I didn’t mean to act like an asshole. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she replies, though the gloomy tone of her voice suggests it was very much a big deal.

“No, it was. And I’m sorry. I was embarrassed and reacted without thinking. Can you forgive me?” She goes quiet again, the deep draw of breath and long release the only sounds coming from the other end. “Cat?”

“There’s truly no one like you, Lawrence Grier.” There’s amusement in her voice now, and my tight muscles relax.

We’re going to be okay.

“Does that mean you forgive me?”

She laughs. “I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to stay upset with you.”

“I don’t know about that. Robbie still seems pretty pissed at me.”

“I’m sorry. I feel like that’s my fault. He’s always been that way when it comes to me. Maybe he’ll get over it now that I’ve broken things off with him. I don’t want to come between the two of you. It’s ridiculous. It’s not like you’re interested in me.”

“Right,” I lie, letting out a nervous laugh.

If only that were true.

Catelyn

Holding the phone between my ear and shoulder, I pull down the covers on my bed and crawl inside. Lawrence calls me every night now, though we don’t usually do a lot of talking.

“You do realize I have zero interest in watching this movie, right?” I settle in bed, lying on my side so I can see the television.

“Come on. Braveheart is a great movie. You have to give it a chance.”

“The last thing you told me to give a chance didn’t work out so well,” I tease. “Besides, if you’ve already seen it, why are you watching it again?”

“Because you haven’t seen it, and I want to share it with you.”

My stomach flips, my lips curving into a bright smile. He’s always saying things like that, and my feelings for him are getting stronger every day. I know it isn’t good. He’s still dating my best friend. But he’s so sweet and charming, it’s impossible not to crush on him.

We continue to watch the movie, the line quiet except Lawrence’s occasional commentary followed by my laughter. As we enter the last scenes, he lets out a long yawn.

“You should go to sleep,” I tell him, my own yawn escaping.

“No,” he protests. “I’m good. I don’t want to let you go yet.” My entire body heats, and I’m glad he can’t see my reaction. “Besides, the movie isn’t over yet.”

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