Page 37 of Obeying the Owner

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen yet. She’s someone I could see being in a relationship with, but I don’t want to rush into anything. Gwen comes first, and I’m about to add a new job to my plate. How much can I pile on?”

“You can always see how it goes, and if it’s too much, you can end things with her.”

“Right.”

“You know I hate it when you say that.”

“Right.” I laugh.

He punches my arm. “I gave you good advice.”

“I know you did. I’ll think about your wise words later.” I pick up my bottle. “For now, I’d like to finish this beer.”

“And then have one more?” Isaac asks.

“Maybe.”

He smiles. “That’s good. My advice improves with every beer I drink.”

I don’t want to discuss Mae anymore.

Even though I mentioned her to Isaac, I didn’t share many details about her. We may be hooking up temporarily, but I want to keep her to myself.

* * *

This house feels so lonely without Gwen here. Raising the remote, I flip through a few channels and settle on the local news.

After a few minutes of barely watching, my mind wanders to Mae, and I wonder what she’s doing. There’s no reason why I can’t simply ask her.

I have her phone number.

Grabbing my phone from my nightstand, I tap on her name and smile. I added her to my contacts as Sunshine. I type out a text and send it.

Hi, Mae. How was your weekend?

I hope she replies. If she didn’t save my number, she might be wondering who the fuck is texting her this late.

It’s only a couple of minutes before she answers.

It was nice. How was yours?

Gwen was here, and we stayed busy. But it passed too quickly.

The weekends have a way of doing that.

Where are you now?

What do you mean, where am I? It’s well after eleven p.m. and I have to work in the morning. I’m in bed.

Her reply makes me smile even though she killed my opportunity to ask what she’s wearing.

I figured as much but didn’t want to assume. Plenty of twenty-somethings go out at night and still manage to make it to work the next day.

Not this one. I need sleep to function properly.

Is that my cue to stop texting you?

Maybe.

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