Page 32 of Twink Heart

?Holy shit. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

Me: First off, I paid for my half of the meal. And secondly, we had sex because I thought you were a halfway decent guy. But your messages are telling me just how much of a jealous bitch you are. So you can go fuck yourself. I don’t want to ever see you again.

Ray: Who the hell are you to talk to me like that you fucking cheap whore?

?I didn’t wait to see what other messages might come my way. Instead I just clicked on his contact icon and blocked his number. However, one last message made it through before I could stop him.

Ray: If you won’t be with me, you shouldn’t be with anybody.

?I just scoffed and thrust my phone back in my pocket. All the good emotions of the day had been ripped away from me in a matter of seconds and I was seething. How dare he sweep in and not only try to ruin my day, but try to make me look like the asshole? What a fucking dickhead.

?Forcing myself to take a breath, I willed myself to calm down. Maybe he was a dick, but at least I’d dodged a bullet. At first Ray seemed like a pretty nice guy and I had high hopes for what we might become. But after that little text exchange, I never wanted to see him again. He’d shown his true colors, and I was no longer interested. Now that his number was blocked, I’d never have to hear from him again.

?But I didn’t feel any sense of loss. Not with Rowan around. He was ten times cuter than Ray and even with his little blow up earlier in the day, still treated me a lot better than Ray ever had. So I counted myself lucky.

?“Something wrong?”

?I turned to see Rowan standing a few feet away, staring at me.

?“No. Why?”

?“You’ve been glaring at that throw pillow for a couple of minutes,” he said. “Did it do something to you?”

?I glanced over at the simple blue and white striped pillow. “I mean… it’s ugly and cliche, but I don’t hate it I guess.”

?“Did something happen?” He looked suddenly worried. “You’re always smiling and now you’re not. Did I say something stupid again?”

?There was a long pause before I decided it was probably best to be completely honest. Rowan needed that if he was going to trust me fully. “I just got an annoying text from an ex is all. Nothing to worry about.”

?“Oh.” He shifted uncomfortably from side to side. “Am I… in the way?”

?“What?! No!” I laughed at that, surprised he was so worried. “Believe me, I never want to see or hear from that guy ever again. He’s an asshole. In fact, I just blocked his number permanently.”

?“Okay. If you’re sure I’m not stopping you from living your life…”

?“Believe me, I’d rather be here with you on your worst day than hang out with him.”

?That seemed to cheer him up a little. He came over to the couch and instead of sitting on the opposite end, he took a seat right next to me so that our thighs touched. I could feel the tension in his body and he kept wringing his hands nervously.

?“Something up with you?” I asked.

?“I… I don’t know.”

?“Well that’s not much to go on.”

?“Sorry,” he sighed. “I know I’m a pain.”

?“You’re not, I promise.” I reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind? Say anything you want. There’s no shame here.”

?Rowan took a deep breath. “There’s just some things I’ve been thinking about. Things I’d like to try.”

?“Like what?”

?“Like… bedroom things.”

?“Ooh,” I cooed. “You want to explore a new way to put sheets on a mattress? Or maybe how to hang clothes?”

?He gave me a serious amount of side-eye.

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