Page 42 of Wish You Would

DAMN, I WISH I WAS YOUR LOVER

“You still doing okay?”

I smiled up at the waiter, balling my hands into fists to keep from fidgeting with the roll of silverware before me. “Yeah,” I said, my voice pitched too high. “I’m great!”

He quirked a bushy gray brow, but returned my smile, kindly keeping any thoughts to the contrary to himself. “All right then. You be sure to let me know if you need anything.”

I nodded too enthusiastically, breathing a sigh of relief when he walked away. Then, for the thousandth time in the last twenty minutes, I stared at the front door and willed it to open.

Gigi told me she’d meet me here, at Shrimpy Dick’s, once she finished up at the bar. Sometime around three, she said. Flipping my phone over, I tapped the screen. It lit to reveal a selfie of Anya and I from when I joined her on the road last year, and the time. 3:10. Gah. My stomach was knotted more than a bag of unspooled yarn.

I took a deep breath in and looked toward the door. Again. I shouldn’t have asked for her help. I shouldn’t have bothered her. She’d done enough. But when Halle asked me…

Exhaling, I fixed my gaze on the whorls and lines of the table before me. Maybe she changed her mind. I wouldn’t blame her, not for a second. She’d had a long night and probably wanted to go home and sleep. Probably didn’t want to talk me through yet another one of my—

“Sorry.” Gigi plopped down in the seat across from me and shrugged out of her jacket. “Was going over some closing things with Dante.”

“Oh, yeah.” I ignored the relief melting through me at seeing her face. “I noticed he was behind the bar tonight.”

She flashed a smile. “Shuffling things around a bit,” she said, pulling a menu closer. “He’s doing great.”

“That’s so good!” I tucked my hands under my thighs to keep from fidgeting. “I think he’s going to be so good.”

Gigi glanced up, eyebrow cocked. “You know what else is so good?” Placing the menu flat in front of her, she leaned her elbows on it and looked me square in the eye. “Telling me what this huge favor you need is.”

An awkward laugh slipped passed my lips. Welp. We were doing this.

“I mean, I don’t think I said it was huge. In fact, it’s a pretty small favor. Minuscule, really. It—”

“Parker.”

“Okay. Fine.” I exhaled, quick and brisk. Then gulped in another breath, releasing a string of syllables and sounds before I could chicken out. “HalleaskedmeoutandIdon’tknowwhattodonext.”

Gigi leaned closer, eyes narrowed. “You wanna run that by me again. Slower this time?”

My fingers twisted together in my lap and I stared at them to avoid Gigi’s intense eyes. “Halle asked me out,” I repeated, my brain barely absorbing the words. Even though I was there. I was there when it happened. Yet I still couldn’t believe it. “Tonight. After Anya dragged me across the bar to say hi.”

And you stood there and watched.

Gigi’s eyes narrowed, as if she could hear my unspoken words. She didn’t reply, though. Not immediately. Sitting back in her seat, she folded her hands on the table. “Well,” she started, her thumb spinning the ring she wore on her index finger. “That’s good, right? It’s what you wanted.”

“Yes.” The word came quickly. And it didn’t taste like pure truth. I took a gulp from the glass of ice water beside me. “Yes, it is. For sure. What I wanted.”

Wasn’t it?

My brain called up the conversation from hours before. Halle’s hand on my arm, laughing at something I said. Me, blushing like a schoolgirl. Her, telling me how cute it was. Me, blushing harder.

Kind of like now.

Putting my hand to my cheek, I winced. I was ridiculous.

“So, mission accomplished.” Gigi picked up her menu again, studying it intently. “What’re we doing here, then?”

“What comes next?” I leaned forward, heart in my throat, palms flat on the table.

Her head shot up, her eyes flashed. “What do you mean? You got her attention. She asked you out.” Returning her focus back to the menu in her hand, she repeated, “Mission accomplished.”

“But,” I persisted. Didn’t she see? Didn’t she understand what a mess I was? How badly I still needed her help? “What about after? What comes next?”

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