Page 22 of Thirst Trap
“Maybe what?”
“I-I thought maybe you were calling me because of… never mind. It’s silly. So about the video.”
“We’ll get back to the video. Why did you think I was calling you?”
I hate that she thinks right now this is the only reason I’m calling her. Though, without the video, I don’t know if we’d be talking right now. But I don’t want to assume with her this time. That’s what I did last week, and it led to the most miserable seven days of my life.
“I was.” I hear her take a breath. “Okay, fine. I was hoping you called me because you wanted to see me again. But if you only called me about the video, then that’s fine too and crap on a cracker, now I’m rambling.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I wish I could see your face right now. I bet you’re cute when you ramble.”
“Don’t change the subject cowboy.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, relaxing into my couch. “Is one of the reasons why I called you because of the video? Yes. But that’s because I just found out about it tonight. Trent posted it. I didn’t care about me, but I wanted to make sure you were okay with it being online. Then I found out you didn’t know. Which is also how I got your number and… I’m trying to remember right now why we decided to leave everything in Nashville. Because I’m racking my brain and I don’t remember one good reason as to why we shouldn’t give this a try.”
The line falls silent, and I’m almost worried that she isn’t there. Then I hear her breathing.
“I think we thought it was for the best,” she finally says.
“Can I now go on the record of saying that in retrospect, it was not for the best.”
She laughs softly. “In retrospect, I would have to agree. The question is now, cowboy, what do we do with this knowledge?”
I don’t answer right away because I want to make sure I get this right. She’s in Birmingham. I’m here. It’s only a two-hour drive. But I don’t care if she was five hours away or in another country. I want this woman in my life. I want to see where this goes. I don’t want to go another week wondering what could have been. I want that feeling back, like I had that morning in the hotel room.
“We do have each other’s phone numbers now,” I begin.
“Yes, we do.”
I’m sure if I were to look in a mirror now, I’d look like an idiot for how hard I’m smiling. I couldn’t care less. “Then I propose that we take this week to get to know each other. And then, if it’s okay with you, the next weekend I have off, I’ll drive to Birmingham and spend the weekend with you?”
“You don’t have to do that!”
That wasn’t the response I hoped for. Then again, I didn’t expect her to sound panicked at the thought of seeing me again.
“I don’t have to what? Don’t you want to see me?”
“I do. I really do. But don’t come here,” she says, her words rushed. “I mean, you can. Or I can come up there. I’d love to see where you live.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I think I can get there in a few weeks,” she says, her words finally slowing down. “So, we’ll talk tomorrow?”
I lie back on my couch, feeling relaxed for the first time in seven days. “Who says we’re getting off the phone now?”
I hear what seems to be the sound of bedsprings on the other line. “Good. Because I still want to hear about this video.”
