Page 13 of The Love We Make

Eventually, his voice in my ear woke me up just enough to hear him whispering, “I am going to hang up Maddy, sleep tight. Love you.”

Then the line died and I flipped over and finished sleeping until my alarm went off.

Now I sat at my desk, yawning again.

Thank God it is Friday.

“Hey,” I heard my friend Kristin say as she walked into my small office. She worked in the office next to mine doing the same thing I did. We had hit it off when I started at the company and became fast friends. Kristin had started inviting me to girls’ night with her friends and they, too, became my friends.

“Hey,” I mumbled without looking up.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I couldn’t sleep last night, I’m tired.”

“Well, you better catch a nap before tonight!”

“Yeah, I will….” I was leaning on my left hand and clicking through my computer with my right hand. At this point, I didn’t even want to go out tonight at all. I just wanted to curl up and watch the Kings game on TV and fall asleep.

Kristin wouldn’t let that happen. I had become our friends’ pet project. These girls’ nights had become a quest to get me laid. She would hound me if I wasn’t on my game tonight.

“We only have a few hours left, I will cover for you. Go home and start that nap. You look like shit.”

Gee, thanks.

But I took her up on the offer and packed my things up.

As I made my way out of the door to the building, Chase was making his way in.

You have got to be kidding me.

“Whoa, where are you going?” He asked as I walked right past him, hoping to send him a message.

“Are you serious right now?”

Chase held his hands up in a placating manner. “Hey, I just need to know our plans for tonight.”

“Wedon’t have plans, Chase.”

“You know what I mean. Ethan wasn’t sure if we were going to 678 or that other girlier place you ladies go to.”

I ran a hand down my face and kept walking. He followed me and got in step with me on the sidewalk.

“Wedon’t have plans,” I repeated. “My friends and I do.”

“At this point, you know I promised Ethan I would go where you go. So please make this easy for me. Please?”

I laughed. Despite how annoyed I was, these guys cracked me up. I had no doubt Chase would figure out where I was going even if I didn’t tell him.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend that needs your attention? Isn’t she pissed you are following another woman all over the place?”

“She knows what I am up to. I would never lie to her. But she does think I am insane.”

“What do you get out of this?” I asked.

“Honestly?”Honesty is exactly what I wanted.“I get Ethan in my back pocket for a huge favor in the future. I don’t even know what I am going to ask him to do yet, all I know is it's going to be fun having him at my mercy.”

Chase was rubbing his hands together like a kid in a candy store. Guys were weird.

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