Page 75 of Sparking Sara

I quickly add her name to my contacts.

Me: You got a phone!

Sara: Oliver brought me one today. At least phones haven’t changed much in the past three years.

Me: They’ve just gotten a lot more expensive.

Sara: You left awfully quickly this morning. I wanted to see if everything was okay.

I look down into my half-empty beer bottle, searching my mind for an explanation.

Me: I had to help a friend.

Sara: Well, it’s something you’re good at. Helping friends seems to be your strong suit.

I watch Bass grab a beer from the kitchen on his way back from the bathroom. It’s a lie. I didn’t need to help a friend. Unless you call Oliver a friend and I’m helping him by staying away from his fiancée.

Sara: We’re friends, aren’t we, Denver?

Me: Of course.

Sara: So, you’d tell me if something is wrong.

Me: Nothing’s wrong, Sara.

Sara: Do you think you’ll be able to come by tomorrow? Nobody plays Go Fish as well as you do.

I laugh. How did that become our thing? A game five-year-olds play. But somehow, every time I visit, we end up playing.

I think about coming up with another excuse. Being called into work, maybe. I’m afraid, however, that if I miss seeing her two days in a row, it would be more than obvious. I don’t want to hurt her. She needs all the friends she can get. But I don’t like the way I’m starting to feel around her. Aspen warned me about this. Hell,everyonewarned me about this.

Oliver was right to ask me to back off. When I try to put myself in his shoes, I’d be pissed at me, too. I wouldn’t want another man spending that much time with my girl. Even if she’s not sure about him at the moment, she was before. She was in love with him.

Sara: Denver, what is it? Is everything okay?

Me: Everything’s fine. Any requests for lunch tomorrow?

Sara: Pizza.

Me: Pepperoni?

Sara: Is there any other kind?

I laugh.

Me: You got it. See you tomorrow, then.

Sara: Have a good night, Denver.

Me: You, too.

I put my phone down and find Bass staring at me. “Trouble in paradise?” he asks.

“Very funny,” I say, turning to watch the baseball game on TV. “Caden’s up.”

“Don’t change the subject,” he says.

“I wasn’t aware there was a subject.”

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