Page 30 of The Art of Catching Feelings

He was staring at his phone, waiting for her reply, when he heard Randy’s voice outside the shower.

“Yo, Kep!” he said. “I know you’re in here. You trying to save the planet or something?”

If Chris ignored him, he’d go away. How long did it take for someone to respond to a text?

“I’m as concerned about global warming as the next guy,” Randy said. “But that shit’s systemic, man. You’re not gonna save enough with soap-only showers to make up for, like, the oil spills in the Gulf.”

Chris saw Randy’s hand reach around the shower curtain, feeling for the nozzle, but seconds too late to react. Suddenly cold water was streaming down on top of him, matting his hair against his head and soaking through his uniform.

“Holy shit!” Chris shouted, holding his phone out of the splash zone while he jumped out of the shower. “What the hell, Randy?”

Randy stepped back, his hand over his mouth in an exaggerated expression of shock. Or maybe he was just trying not to lose it laughing. It really could go either way.

“Why so decked out to take a shower? You’re not”—now he was definitely laughing—“you’re not one of those people, are you? Those never-nudes?”

Chris unbuttoned his jersey and took it off, wringing the water out of it back into the shower pan, more to make a point in front of Randy than for anything else. “You’ve seen me naked, Randy.” It was a locker room. It was inevitable that they’d all seen each other in various stages of undress.

“I know, man, which is why I know you have nothing to be ashamed of,” Randy said. “You probably get a complex, with me walking around here, but you’re perfectly—”

Chris pulled a face, snapping Randy with his wet jersey. “Shut the fuck up,” he said. “If you ruined my phone, you’re going to pay for it.”

“Oh, shit,” Randy said, looking genuinely contrite for the first time. “Is it okay?”

Chris swiped to wake it back up, relieved when everything seemed to work without a hitch. And on his screen was a text from Duckie, her response to his question from before.

I’m in.

He grinned, only looking up when he heard Randy grunt from right next to his ear.

“I knew you had a girl,” he said, not even trying to hide that he’d been reading over Chris’ shoulder.

“She’s just a friend,” Chris said.

Randy made a face like,sure she is. He definitely didn’t believe Chris for a minute, but that was okay. Chris didn’t believe himself yet, either, but he would. He’d have to.

THIRTEEN

Daphne was still sitting in her car in the VIP lot next to the stadium, staring down at her phone.

Good, Chris had texted, and then a smiley face.

Asmiley face. He hadn’t struck her as much of an emoji user, so the sight of it really threw her.

What exactly had happened in the last hour? She’d shown up for the interview and thought she was doing an okay job. Sure, she’d been a little nervous, had flubbed a few lines, but they were just starting to click when it had all gone south. She’d apologized, he’d shut down, and then he’d ended the interview so abruptly that even Greg hadn’t bothered to try to smooth things over with her. He’d just left her alone with the techs to take care of her mic, stalking off with his cell phone pressed to his ear.

She’d only just had time to reach her car when she’d gotten that text from Chris. Where he wanted to talk about song choices and a book he’d read as a kid. It had felt like they were chatting about nothing, but she knew they were talking abouteverything, even if she didn’t know what it all was.

And then he’d told her he wanted to be friends, keep talking. He’d asked her if she was in.

Her phone rang in her hand, startling her. It was Layla’snumber on the screen, and she picked it up on the second ring, her heart already pounding.

“Is everything okay? Is it—”

“Oh my GOD,” Layla said, the word so loud it crackled in Daphne’s ear. “I’m going to purchase a toll-free number, something like 1-800-NOW-BABY, and if there’s an emergency with the baby it’ll be theonlynumber I use. Okay? Otherwise, assume it’s just a normal phone call because I’m still a normal person who’s allowed to make normal phone calls. Is that clear?”

“Absolutely,” Daphne said. “Crystal clear.”

“It better be.”

---