Page 89 of Reckless

“That’s true,” he said, squeezed my knee gently and dropped the subject.

Hours later, he still hadn’t said anything to me about our dating situation. I didn’t want to be pushy, but I had been dreaming about a date with Tyler for so many years, I just had to broach the subject.

“Are you going to ask me out or what?” I asked a little more sharply than I intended. Tyler’s loud laugh made people turn to see who was making so much noise. I blushed under their disapproving eyes.

“I might,” he teased.

“Fine. I can play that game too. Let’s see who will cave in first, Hartley.” He leaned back in his seat nonchalantly and closed his eyes. He looked so handsome, I couldn’t stop watching him. “But I have to warn you,” I continued. “Patience is my strong suit.”

A huge grin formed on his face, but he kept his eyes shut.

“It really is, isn’t it?” He murmured and slept for the rest of the flight back to Boston.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hannah

Threeweeksafterthewedding and four official dates with Tyler later, I walked out of my office building with a bunch of colleagues. Tyler and I were still seeing each other almost every day, even if it was for an hour, but it was a Friday that day and I knew what that meant. No Tyler tonight. That was the only day out of the week that we never saw each other.

“Do you want to go grab a drink?” one of my colleagues asked.

“Only if Hannah takes us to her boyfriend’s place,” another one laughed. Tyler had waited for me after work a few times and most of them had seen him already.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I corrected calmly for what felt like a thousandth time.

Tyler never approached the subject of labeling what we were doing, and I didn’t want to poke him about it. I guessed it was a pretty huge deal to him to even call it dating, let alone a relationship. Bringing my noisy colleagues to his workplace and having them call him my boyfriend didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Oh, come on. That’s the first evening this week that he hasn’t come to wait for you after work.”

“That doesn’t make him my boyfriend.”

The conversation went back and forth for longer than I wanted. I had no desire to spend the night with them and preferred to go back home than be grilled about my relationship status, so I did exactly that.

I ate standing up at my kitchen island, thinking about my current situation and the idea that got stuck in my head ever since my first trip back to California this summer. I wanted to quit my job. The first time I thought about doing it was when I realized how much I enjoyed being back in California. I imagined quitting and leaving Boston. Then things with Tyler escalated and I wanted to explore where they might lead us.

But the truth was I felt unsatisfied with the work I did. Most of my clients came from privilege. They had problems, yes, but I craved working on something really challenging. Like coaching single mothers. Or young people coming from poverty or foster homes, who wanted to achieve financial stability. Those people couldn’t afford to pay my boss’s fees.

My phone buzzed.

Tyler: Are you free tomorrow? I have an idea.

I smiled and started typing back an answer. My thumbs hovered over the phone screen, a thought forming in my head.

Hannah: I want to quit my job. Do you think I could?

Tyler: Not on a Saturday.

Hannah: I’m serious.

Tyler: Do it. What’s the worst thing that could happen?

Hannah: No one hiring me again?

Tyler: You could always work on your own.

That was one of the things I loved so much about Tyler. He could make serious matters seem easy to navigate. Working on my own, would be amazing. I could choose my clients.

Hannah: Are you sure you can’t come over later?

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