Page 23 of Their Greatest Strength

“How long do you need?”

“I don’t know. A few days, maybe? A week?” she rambles, heaving in a breath.

Pushing her right now will do more damage than good. Strangers or not, that much is obvious. This is a lot to dump on someone.

“How about I give you my number, then? Give me a call or send a text when you have an answer for me,” I suggest.

Her eyes fall to watch as I pull my phone out of my pocket and jot my number into the notes for her to copy.

“I don’t like calling anyone,” she mumbles.

“Text me, then. Anytime. Just please don’t ghost me.”

“You’re not going to ask for my number so you can make sure I don’t?”

I shake my head. “I don’t want to pressure you with this decision. It’s not something simple.”

Her entire demeanour softens, and I mentally raise a fist in celebration. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She pulls a phone out of her jeans pocket and taps the cracked screen before putting my number in. “I meant what I said about you not walking me to my place.”

“Is this your way of telling me to go away?” I ask, still totally into the way she seems to have no filter around me.

It’s refreshing as shit.

“I mean, if you want to stand here in the street after I leave, then that’s your prerogative. But I’ll be going to my place alone.”

“And you’ll text me, right? Regardless of if it’s a yes or no. Although, I’d much prefer yes.”

“I’ll text.”

“Then I’ll go.”

And the next time I’m here, I won’t be leaving without calling her my fiancée.

8

BLAKELY

“I’msorry to let you know that we won’t be moving forward with your application at this time. Please do try again in the new year when we have more spots to fill.”

“Alright. Thank you for your time,” I say, putting every ounce of strength I have into not sobbing.

“Have a great day, Blakely.”

“You too.”

When the call ends, I brace a hand on the countertop and drop my head. It’s been over a week since I lost my job, and this is yet another rejection. I thought I had a fighting chance with this last one, but I guess I just didn’t have what they were wanting.

My heart is heavy in my chest as I shut my eyes, refusing to cry over this. I’ve always been able to find my way out of a dark spot, and I plan on doing that again. The path out is just a whole lot harder to find this time, my guiding light dim.

“Is everything okay?”

Pasting on a smile, I turn to face Nate. He’s dressed for practice, looking older than he is with his hair pushed back and eyes bright with anticipation. Another wave of emotion crashes into me, this one harsher, crueller.

“Everything’s great. Are you ready to go?”

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