Page 75 of Someone to Have
My phone pings as he steps out of the prop room.
Eric: Carne asada tacos with mango salsa. Be ready to get your feed on.
Happiness explodes across my chest, bright and warm and completely overwhelming. I should tell him I already have plans. I should remember that Eric is supposed to be helping me get the guy I thought I wanted. But I don't want Bryan right now. I want Eric–and the way his confidence in me makes me feel brave.
I rush forward and step into the hallway. “Bryan.” He turns, almost at the stage door now. “I just got a text from my sister. She needs help with her kids tonight. Can we take a raincheck on that bite?”
He looks confused, like no one has ever canceled plans with him before. “Of course,” he says after a moment. “A raincheck is great.”
“Great,” I agree, and for the first time in this conversation, I mean it.
He disappears toward the front of the theater, and I slap a palm against my forehead. What am I doing? Shooting my shot with Bryan was the whole point of Eric’s coaching me.
Except…something has changed. I’ve changed. And one thing’s for sure—my story is not going to end the way I thought.
23
TAYLOR
I getthrough the rest of rehearsal, fighting the urge to smile at the thought that maybe things are still good with Eric.
I hear Bryan call my name as I walk across the parking lot toward my car, the snowfall coming down in puffy flakes around me.
“How about Friday?” he asks when I turn.
I stare at him so long that my eyes start to water from the cold.
“To get together and work on your lines. I assume you’re going to Myrna’s famous cast potluck? It’s a tradition before every tech week.”
I nod. “I’ll be there.” Three words strung together. That’s an improvement.
“We could grab a drink beforehand.” He inclines his head to study me, not like a beagle at all I tell myself. “Unless you have other plans, or you’re bringing somebody to the dinner. I guess plus ones are welcome.”
“I don’t have a plus one,” I say quietly.
This is working out just the way it’s supposed to, right? Me not giving off desperate, needy, or puke-on-your-shoes energy has made Bryan interested in a way he wasn’t before.
“A drink sounds great.” Four words. Keep ’em coming, Taylor.
He adjusts the wool hat he’s wearing, which gives him a Where’s Waldo-ish appearance. That’s better than a beagle at least. “Do you want me to pick you up?”
“I’ll meet you at Tony’s at five-thirty,” I suggest. “The library closes at five on Fridays, so that should give me plenty of time.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you…well, I’ll see you tomorrow for rehearsal.”
I hold out my hands to catch the snowflakes, the icy bits stinging my palms. “They’re forecasting eight inches over the next couple of days.”
“It’s my first Colorado winter,” he says. “Quite a change from California. Good thing I had snow tires put on my car.”
“Just remember that snow tires are for snow. They don’t do much on ice.” Well done, me, I think. Just what every guy wants from a girl—winter driving tips.
“Spoken like a true native.” He gives me that patented boyish smile. A few weeks ago, it would have sent my heart into overdrive. Tonight, my body doesn’t react.
“Sure.” I sound like one of those dolls where you pull the string in the back and they say the same thing over and over again.
“I’m glad you stuck with the play.” He winks. “I knew your issues couldn’t be as bad as people told me.”
“What do people say?” Note to self: don’t ask questions if you don’t want to hear the answer.
