Page 82 of Text Appeal

“Last night was great. But it was just a bit of fun, Blue.”

“So much fun. Probably best if you stop calling me that,” I say in my best calm tone. “We need to indicate to people that we’re no longer as close and trusting of each other as we once were.”

“Sure.” His brows descend. “That makes sense.”

“Now the agreement was that we would separate in a polite and civilized fashion. But given how into each other we were pretending to be just five minutes ago, we’re going to need a story to sell the separation. We want something believable, but nothing too harmful in the long term to either of us, reputation wise or whatever.”

“Sounds good.”

“I think we should say that you had an attack of the nerves and broke it off. That you weren’t ready for another relationship and were scared by how good we were together and wanted some space. How does that sound to you?”

“I don’t know…”

“There’s nothing wrong with needing time for yourself. Wanting to work out just what it is you’re looking for.”

“Yeah, but—”

“You don’t want to make me look bad, right?”

“No.” He grabs the back of his neck. “Of course not. Are you angry at me?”

“Why would I be angry?” I ask. “We both knew going into this situation that things could get complicated. Best for you to run away now and we can go back to being friends sometime in the distant future when things have settled down.”

“Run away?”

“Walk. Of course, I meant walk.” I fetch my cell and start typing. “Alrighty then…”

“What are you doing?” he asks. And I am not imagining the worry in his voice.

“Texting Ana Rosa. We met at the cook-off today. I think it would be best if we sent out an official sort of message and got ahead of any gossip and speculation. And she knows everyone and talks to everyone so sending the news out through her seems sensible.”

His mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Not a single word.

“How does this sound? So great to meet you today. You asked about dinner with Connor and me next week. But he decided he’s not ready for a relationship so we broke up.” I exhale. “And it’s sent. That’s done. Thank goodness it’s over, right?”

He grunts.

My cell chimes and oof. Ana Rosa doesn’t mess around. A string of messages soon appear on screen. Connor’s cell starts beeping a moment later. His forehead fills with furrows as his texts spiral out of control.

“It was bound to happen whenever and however we did this. People in this town love to get involved and have an opinion.”There’s a small chance I am experiencing a smidgeon of guilt for throwing him in the deep end. But like any and all feelings for the man—it will pass.

“Guess I’ll get another new number,” he says.

“Not a bad idea.”

He stares at me and I stare at him and nothing happens. He doesn’t say anything or do anything. It would seem his hard-won communication skills have regressed. But there’s nothing I can do about that.

I ignore the itching in my eyes. “You should probably go. It would be weird for you to still be here when the announcement has gone out.”

“Yeah,” he says, but he just stands there.

“This is what you wanted, right? Connor?”

“This was the plan.” He sighs. “We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“Might be best to give each other some space for a while. For credibility.”

He nods. “Thanks, Riley. For everything.”

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