Page 33 of Wanting You

“Um…”

Oh, God…is he asking me out as a coworker or like…a date?

“I really wanted to call you this weekend, but realized I didn’t have your number. After the way you left, I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

The look on his face said he was hoping for her to say something, but she didn’t have a clue how to respond to that.

“And I know you were just thanking me,” he went on, “and the kiss maybe wasn’t planned, but I really enjoyed it and thought that we could spend some time together and…”

A date. He’s definitely asking as a date. What do I do?

“Um…”

“We don’t have to do dinner,” he told her. “Maybe we could go to Books & Beans and just have some coffee and talk about our day? What do you think?”

He looked so handsome and sounded so sincere, but…

“Thank you, Tanner,” she said primly. “But I already have plans for after work. The first week of school is usually exhausting and between that and dealing with my mom, I’m really not going to have a lot of free time. I’m sure you could reach out to any of the other teachers and they’d be happy to have coffee with you after school.”

And yeah, she hated saying the words because she saw the disappointment on his face.

Same, she thought with an inward sigh.

With a curt nod, he took a step back. “No problem. I get it. And hey, have a great first day and I guess…I’ll see you around.”

Chloe nodded too. “Yeah, you too, Tanner. And if there’s anything you need with the…”

“I got it,” he said before turning and walking out.

Groaning, she slouched down in her chair. “Well, that was awkward.” Then she sighed loudly. “And it’s for the best. Getting involved with a coworker is wrong and…ugh…”

It took all of sixty seconds before she reached for her phone and texted her twin.

Chloe: Okay, so…weird question.

Chloe: Wait, are you awake or did you go back to sleep after the muffin drop?

Ash: Is that the weird question or is there another one?

Chloe: There’s another one.

Chloe: And I didn’t think that was a weird question. I felt bad about maybe waking you up.

Ash: Once I got up and drove around town, I was awake. What’s going on?

Where do I even begin?

Chloe: Tanner just asked me to go out with him after school and I turned him down

Ash: Um…that’s not a question

Chloe: I was getting to it! Sheesh!

Ash: Did you turn him down because you still think he’s an icky jerk? Because I’m gonna have to disagree with you on that one

Ash: He was so freaking nice at the hospital. Totally delightful

The eye roll she couldn’t stop practically had her seeing her own brain.

---