Page 15 of Mass Sins

“Crap,” I muttered as I reached for the card on the coffee table. My phone was next to me on the couch, and I picked it up before unlocking it.

I stared at the number for a while, and when I finally managed to open the phone app, I put in the digits one by one, slowly, thinking that maybe something would stop me.

But nothing did, and I continued to save the number under his first name.

JustJoskadidn’t look right though. Something was missing.

I pursed my lips and typed inFatherbefore his first name, amused by my humor.

If the conversation didn’t go the way I hoped it would, I at least would have proven that my intentions weren’t to flirt with him.

I put the card down on the table and leaned back, with my legs crossed, and holding my phone with both hands in my lap. “Alright…what to write,” I asked myself after opening a new chat.

Many things came to mind.

I could’ve sent him a simplehi, or I could’ve told him that Sin told me that he was the other person getting Luca a balance bike.

But neither of those options sounded good enough. None of them would catch his attention, so I had to be more direct. More…intimate.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered before typing.

Me

As a priest, are you even allowed to date?

I sent the text before I could delete it, and while I waited for a few seconds, I figured adding my name would be helpful.

Me

This is Bennie, by the way.

I closed the chat and locked my phone before throwing it to the other side of the couch where I couldn’t reach it. I hated how nervous that made me, but I wasn’t going to take it back now.

I would be nonchalant about it. If he texted me back, I wouldn’t text back too quickly. That would make me seem desperate. Or disinterested.

Staring at the TV, I ignored my phone’s existence and focused on the movie. But when my phone buzzed, my head turned immediately. God, I was long gone. I wanted to check what he wrote. And I knew it was him because there wouldn’t be anyone else texting me.

Not out of the blue.

My fingers twitched, and the urge to reach over and grab my phone was hard to ignore.

“Not yet, Bennie. You don’t want to seem desperate,” I whispered, tearing my eyes off my phone again.

It buzzed again, and while I tried my hardest not to look at it again, my eyes were back on my phone. I took a deep breath, trying to talk myself into ignoring it.

But I couldn’t.

I reached over to it and looked at the screen. There were two messages from him at the bottom of the screen, and I read them without opening them.

Father Joska

Was hoping to hear from you, Bennie.

Father Joska

I’m not an ordinary priest.

I read this texts a few times before laughing out loud. I had noticed that already. Without knowing much about his personal life, there were many things that hinted to him not being an ordinary priest. Just the fact that Sin was hiding something from me about Joska was telling a lot, and the fact that I had made him question his faith was questionable too.

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