Page 89 of Clichés & Curses

‘I might be, if he hadn’t told me himself,’ he countered. ‘I put two and two together, once I saw how he reacted to you. And right after he invited you and Nina to the party, I decided to tease him about it in the car. But turns out, that was the nudge he needed. Because after that day, all he could talk about was you.’

My heart gave a tiny squeeze.

‘Look, I know it’s up to you if you want to go on a date with him,’ he said. ‘But if the only thing that’s holding you back is that he happens to be great at baseball, then I truly think you’re missing out. He’s so much more than that star athlete reputation.’

I didn’t know what else to say, because I did know that. While I liked my star baseball player fantasy version of Colton in my head, I liked the real Colton—the one I had gotten to know in those past few months—more, a lot more. But those weren’t the words I wanted to say out loud just yet, especially not in front of his best friend.

So, instead, I said, ‘You’re a great friend, Miles.’

He gave me a smile. ‘That I am. I mean, I’m already his roommate and best friend, so I figured why not try being his wingman for once.’

His last two words caught my attention. ‘For once? What do you mean?’

The look on Miles’s face told me I knew exactly what he meant, but for some reason, I wanted to deny what he was implying. ‘By for once, you mean you didn’t have to wingman him before, because he always gets the girl on his own, right?’

Miles shook his head. ‘By for once, I mean there has never been anyone else. Until you came along.’

And there it went, my last out.

My last chance of wanting to find a reason to validate my decision of not wanting to go out with Colton other than the fact that he’s a star athlete.

I didn’t have time to ponder over that new thought, when the alarm from my phone sounded off, alerting me that my next class was starting in ten minutes.

‘I gotta go. My class is starting soon.’ Putting my forgotten book in my backpack, I quickly got up and hooked the strap to my shoulder.

I tried to think of what to say before I took off, but Miles came to my rescue. ‘Are you coming to the game this Saturday?’

Right. Their home game.

This was the game I had promised Colton I would be attending, just minutes before things went wrong. I still had more to think about before I could decide on whether I should go to the game. Since I couldn’t give Miles a definite answer, I finally decided to settle on ‘Maybe.’

‘Well, I’ll see you there if you are. And if not, then I’ll see you around.’

I gave him a nod. ‘See you around.’

I quickened my pace and exited the coffee shop, arriving at my class with a couple of minutes to spare before it started. I made it right on time, when the lecturer entered the hall just as I got settled into my seat.

Thankfully, the class was one that I was interested in, offering me a welcome distraction from my conversation that had happened with Miles.

I knew I had a lot to think about, and I couldn’t ignore it forever, but if I could postpone the inescapable for a couple more hours, then you bet that was exactly what I would be doing.

I was back in my apartment a few minutes before 6 p.m. It was Nina’s turn to cook dinner tonight, and after a full day of classes, my brain was too drained to do anything academic. So, reviewing my lecture notes was not on my to-do list that night.

I browsed through Netflix to see if there was anything I could watch to pass the time, but nothing seemed interesting to me.

I let out a frustrated groan.

With nothing left to distract me, it was time to face the inevitable music.

I knew there was no going around it, but I also needed someone to vent this out to. Nina wouldn’t be back for at least another hour, and I had texted Eliza while I was on my way back to the apartment to check if she was free for a phone call. Unfortunately, she had a meeting to attend, followed by a dinner with her co-workers.

There was one final option. My thumb was already hovering over the call button as I hesitated on whether I should press it or not.

Taking a deep breath as I gathered my courage, I pressed it and put it on speaker.

The call line rang three times before it got picked up.

‘Hello?’ My mom’s gentle voice came out from the other side.

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