Page 33 of Just One Chance
“You haven’t what?” He handed her phone back.
“It’s nothing. You and I should go sometime.”
David’s stomach tightened. He’d love to go with her sometime. But, maybe that wasn’t the best choice if he truly wanted to stop thinking about Avery so much. If he was going to get over her, spending more time with her was the worst thing he could do.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you for some ideas about things I could do around town.” He cleared his throat. “Um, date ideas.”
Avery stilled. “Oh.” She tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear, a trace of hesitation in her voice. “Sure. I can help with that.”
Had he made her uncomfortable by asking? David suddenly wanted to backpedal, tell her he’d love to go paddle boarding with her. He’d love to do all the things, everywhere, with only her.
But Lucy was right. Dating someone else might be the best thing to do to get Avery—and Tucker—out of his mind. “I just figure it’s time. I’m settled at work, I’m mostly unpacked. Why not try dating?”
Avery nodded. “It’s a good idea.”
Neither of them said anything for a long moment. “So I guess I’ll text you a list of ideas,” Avery finally said, breaking the awkward silence.
“That would be great,” David said. “Really great.”
Avery said goodbye and David watched as she walked across the yard to her house, stopping on the way to grab her paddle board from the grass at the edge of his driveway. He watched the muscles tighten along her back as she hoisted the board, carrying it over her head to her back porch where she stored her beach things.
He could tell himself he’d date other people. He could even pretend he wanted to. But how was any other woman ever going to compare when Avery was the standard?
Chapter 11
Averystaredatherphone, unsure how to respond. She’d known David was thinking about dating, but this felt so . . . proactive.
You mentioned a friend at work once a few weeks back. Someone you thought I could possibly take out on a date? Could that still happen?
She and David texted a lot. Not every day. But several times a week. He’d asked questions about his house and where to get the best sushi. She’d asked him weird medical questions and texted him random pictures of baby sea animals. And they’d talked about life stuff. About his relationship with his sisters, or how much her parents wished she’d leave the island and move upstate to be closer to them.
It was the kind of chatter that made it easy for her to keep David strictly in the friend zone, even as she grew more and more certain that he had feelings for her. Subtlety wasn’t exactly his strong suit, but as long as they kept their conversation topics light, and veered away from anything that got too personal, she didn’t feel like she needed to stop texting him. She was always completely transparent about Tucker, and they were adults. There was no reason why they weren’t perfectly capable of being friends, without any kind of romantic attachment.
For all those reasons, it shouldn’t have annoyed her that David had asked her to set him up on a date. And yet, the idea made her feel . . . unhappy? Unhappy wasn’t the right word. Unsettled, maybe?
Why shouldn’t he date, though? She certainly didn’t have the right to tell him he shouldn’t. And Shelley had asked more than once about Avery’s “cute doctor neighbor.”
She picked up her phone, chewing on her lip as she keyed out a response.
Sure,she texted.I can send you Shelley’s number. I’ll let her know to expect your call.
There. Sent. Why had that felt so hard?
David’s response popped onto her screen.You never did send over any dating ideas. Can you tell me where to take her? Dinner? A movie? I don’t have a lot of practice dating.
Avery smiled, despite her earlier hesitation. She’dmeantto send dating ideas to David and half-wondered if her subconscious brain was trying to tell her something about why she didn’t. But there was no way she could put him off now. He’d asked for specific help.
No movie. Not on the first date,Avery responded.Dinner is good. Pick a place downtown, then if it goes well, you can walk to the pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park. You might pick a seafood place. Shelley likes good seafood.
Avery sent the text, then reread it, making sure she hadn’t missed anything. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she keyed out another message.Seafood . . . but no oysters.Avery didn’t actually know if Shelley liked oysters or not. Butshe’dhad oysters with David. And he’d loved them. She kind of liked the idea of oysters being their thing.
Got it,David replied.Thanks for the help.
Avery was home three days later when she saw David leaving for his date. She’d heard enough about it at work that day from Shelley, she was certain that’s where he was headed. Without thinking, she pushed open her screen door and stepped onto her front porch. “Hey,” she called.
He looked up and smiled.
Avery padded barefoot down her steps and across the drive, instantly wishing she’d slipped on the flip flops she’d left by the front door. The ground was hot, the crushed shells in the driveway sharp against her skin. She crossed all the way to the grass that separated her property from David’s, just for a cooler place to stand.
