Page 53 of Laugh

I grin from ear to ear when I hear her giggle ringing through her apartment as I hurry us through, aching to show her there are many,manythings Icando with my tongue.

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I’m fuckingexhaustedthis evening.

I stayed late at Haddie’s last night. Once I made good on my promise to show her all of my tricks, we laid together while I shared the ins and outs of my relationship with my father.

It took some time to explain that my dad was a pro player years ago, and he’s been a hardass for as long as I could remember. I’ve never argued with him about my desire to follow in his shoes with the sport, but there was never room in his eyes for anything but being the best.

Any deviation from the plans he felt were the best laid ones, did nothing but piss him off. The moment I stopped playing and went to coaching instead, he became outraged. Not because he doesn’t think it’s a bad job, but because of his mentality that those who can’t do, coach. I could have continued a career playing, but I wouldn’t have been anything beyond mediocre at that level. I knew my limits, and I’ve always felt called to educate and guide athletes into going from good to great.

It was also difficult to admit that I get anxious around him and have a major insecurity over the fact that heisso disappointed in me. I told her it meant a lot to me that she was willing to set aside her nerves to be there for me.

Haddie soothed me with reassuring promises that she’d always be there for me anytime I needed. After exposing myself like that to her and sharing things that I’ve never admitted, even to my best friends, I ended up showing her how much I appreciated her for a second time. I didn’t make it home until after two in the morning.

What I hadn’t planned on was getting a frantic call from my mom hours before I was supposed to pick Haddie up tonight. She begged me to come over because the repair I did under the sink blew. She had my father turn off the water until I could run to the store to pick up piping to change it out completely.

Jensen assured me he and Addie would pick my happy girl up, who also swore it was completely fine that our plans changed slightly. She teased me, swearing she wouldn’t take tequila shots to suppress her nerves before showing up, which made me feel so much better about coming here to help my mom out.

Mom is busy in the kitchen, slamming pans around as she tries to make the perfect meal for Haddie. I grin when I hear the doorbell, knowing that she’s just as nervous about making a good impression for the girl I’ve fallen hard for as Haddie is. The smile I’m wearing as I open the door is the first one I’ve managed all day. I’ve been in a terrible mood from lack of sleep and dealing with my dad telling me I’m fixing the sink wrong.

The smile falls from my face when I only see Jensen and Addie standing on the other side, shifting awkwardly.

Lowering my voice, I glare at them and hiss, “Did you fucking forget her?”

Jensen puts his hands up in defense. “We did not forget her. I’ve been trying to text for the last hour, man. Haddie wasn’t home. We waited and tried calling her, but no answer.”

Slipping my phone out of my pocket, I check it and realize I’ve had it on silent ever since my meeting this morning.Fuck, maybe Haddie texted me?I’m frustrated to see there’s nothing from her, just three missed calls and a few texts from Jensen.

I hear mom ask from the kitchen, “Are they here? Is Haddie here?”

Ignoring her, I unlock my phone and try to call her, but it goes straight to voicemail. I leave a quick message, asking her to call me, then open our text thread and send her a message.

Me: Where are you? Did you forget about dinner tonight?

I wait for a few moments, but don’t see it swap over from delivered to read and scowl at my phone. Looking back up, I lock eyes with her friend. “Why wouldn’t she have been home?”

Anxiety over tonight has been eating away at me all day. I fight off the rising irritation that Haddie didn’t even bother to text that she needed to cancel tonight.

Addie looks uncomfortable and slightly worried. “Honestly, I have no idea. She didn’t reach out to me either. The only thing I can think of is that she got held up at work, or something? Maybe she lost track of time? Sometimes she loses track of time…” She trails off, giving me a sympathetic smile.

Jensen adds, “When I couldn’t get a hold of you to let you know we should cancel, we figured we should come so you all weren’t waiting.”

“What’s going on?” my mom asks, wiping her hands on a towel as she walks up behind me.

Looking back at her, I see my father standing in the entrance to the living room, watching and listening to what’s going on. To my mom, I say, “Haddie wasn’t home when they went to pick her up. We haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”

“Oh,” mom breathes out, clearly disappointed. “That’s a shame. I was really looking forward to tonight.”

My hackles rise when I hear my dad let out a loud snort. “I told you she seemed flighty, Rosemary.” With that, he turns around and walks back into the living room, most likely planting his ass back in his chair. Seconds later, I hear the television volume increase and know that I’m right.

“Well, that doesn’t mean we can’t all have a lovely dinner tonight,” mom says, trying to make the situation better with her never-ending happy attitude. “Jensen, honey, I’m so glad you came over. Introduce me to this lovely woman you’ve got next to you.”

“I’ll be right back,” I tell them, letting Jensen take over introductions, and step around my friend to go outside for a minute to cool off.

Gripping my phone tightly, I walk out into the yard and take a few grounding deep breaths before I try calling her again.

Again, it goes straight to voicemail. Again, I text her.

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