Page 41 of Breakout
“I’m trying to be. You good now? Need to talk to me about anything else?”
She shakes her head. “We better get back downstairs before our friends notice we’re both gone.”
Yeah, I think it’s a little too late for that, sweetheart.
nine
As class lets out, I breathe out a sigh of relief. It’s my last class of the day, which means I have a few hours before I have to make it to my shift.
I should go home and study or sleep, but instead I’m meeting up with Grace. I feel like since she moved out, I rarely see her. Add in the fact that Cora is with Kellan, and I feel like I’m letting my friends down.
“Peyton, wait up.”
Looking over my shoulder, I give a smile to my classmate, Gabe.
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask as I stop to wait for him.
“I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to see if I could borrow your notes from last week’s lesson. I was a bit distracted and don’t want to fall behind.”
I frown. “Is everything okay? You’re usually really on top of your stuff.”
He rubs his head, looking away sheepishly. “Okay, you got me. I don’t need your notes. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you.”
“Me? Why?” I ask, shocked at his admission.
Gabe has always been nice to me, but we haven’t talked much. I don’t know much about him to even be able to tell if we have any similar interests. What could he possibly like about me that would have him chasing me down?
His cheeks turn red. “I was hoping to finally get up the courage to ask you out.”
My eyes widen as I look at him.
Well, that’s a plot twist. Or maybe it’s not. Have I been so in my head about Beckett and everything going on that I missed Gabe hitting on me?
“Wow.”
He looks away, then rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, you can say no. No hard feelings.”
I consider him for a moment. He’s good-looking. A little shy and keeps to himself, but nice. Honestly, if I were looking to find a good boyfriend, he’d be a top contender.
There’s one little problem.
I’m married.
I give him a small smile. “You’re a really great guy, Gabe.”
He lets out a humorless laugh as he looks at the ground. “This isn’t sounding good.”
“I don’t know what I can say to not be cliché, but it has nothing to do with you. I’m just not in a place in my life where I can date. I have classes, and I work every shift they will allow me to. I barely have enough time to sleep or see my friends. I wish it were different, but it’s not.”
He nods once. “Yeah. Sure. Thanks.”
I feel like shit as he walks off, his shoulders slumped. Not only did I hurt his feelings, but I lied to him.
My time management isn’t the issue with us dating.
Beckett is.
I married him, and even if it’s not real, I won’t cheat on him. I’d never embarrass him like that even if our benefits part of the relationship disappeared.
