Page 40 of True Sight
When he collects himself he looks at me again. “I promise you, love, I won’t make you dance. Or run,” he finishes quickly.
I swallow hard and consider his offer. I can’t say yes. I can’t hangout with him on Saturday morning. I need to backstep out of this friendship thing so fast before he gets the wrong idea. But once again, his green eyes steal away any logical thought I try to have.
“Fine,” I exhale, giving into his request. “Saturday morning is fine.”
“Oh good.” He shrugs his shoulders and his smile grows wider. “Eight in the morning, come and pick me up at my place. Oh, and bring Annie, she’ll love it.”
He starts to pack up his stuff and I take it that our meeting is over. When he stands, I move to meet him as he slings his backpack over his shoulder.
“I’ll text you my address. I hope you’ll actually reply this time?” he asks, dipping his chin down and giving me a hopeful smile.
I roll my eyes at him and groan. “Yes, I’ll reply this time.”
“Wonderful. I’ll see you Saturday.” He waves and walks away before I can say anything or suddenly cancel on the account that I might suddenly be terminally ill on Saturday.
As he goes, I can’t stop my eyes from focusing on the way his legs look in the gray joggers he showed up in.
18
HENRY
On Saturday morning, my eyes shoot open faster than a high-speed train out of London. All night I had tossed and turned, imagining what my morning with him would entail. While it isn’t explicitly a date—since I still don’t know which team he’s part of—it sure feels like one. Part of me had grown concerned when he suddenly stopped replying to my messages last week. But since I saw him on Tuesday, he hasn’t ignored a single text I’ve sent him. Not that there were many of them, because there weren’t. But he did reply when I sent him my address and again when I confirmed our plans last night, so I took that as a win.
I jump out of bed and head for the shower to get ready for the day. Alex is teaching our Saturday morning classes today which is why I asked him to meet me this morning. I have the whole day to myself and I intend on using it well. Glancing at the clock, I note that I have about a little under two hours to get ready before he’ll be here to pick me up. Plenty of time to shower, shave, do my morning skincare, and make breakfast. We have classes almost every day of theweek now, so it’s a rarity that I have this much time to myself in the morning. Usually by now I’d have two classes under my belt and be prepping for a third. I mosey through my shower, taking a few extra minutes to enjoy the hot water and then turn on my favorite YouTuber as I shave and apply all the moisturizers and serums to my face. As someone who’s on camera and online for a living, I take my skincareveryseriously. True to form, I mosey a little too much and before I know it, I only have fifteen minutes before Conrad is supposed to pick me up and I’m not even dressed yet.
“Boggart. Hurry up, you ninny, he’s going to be here soon and you haven’t even eaten,” I hiss to myself, hurrying to my closet in only my trunks. Halfway between the bathroom and my closet, there is a knock on the door. I turn slowly and look at the door for a brief second before turning back to look in the direction of my closet, frozen in where to go next. Another knock comes at the door followed by a voice.
“Henry? You there, dude? It’s me, Conrad.” His voice warms me in a way that should be criminalized—even if it’s cut with a hint of irritation because I’m making him wait. I should be the one who’s irritated with him since he’s early. Not wanting to be rude, I skip over to the door and swing it open with a smile. When Conrad sees me, every muscle in his face goes flat and his eyes go wide.
“Hello, good morning.” I laugh uncomfortably, trying to downplay the fact that I’ve just opened the door wearing nothing but a pair of briefs. Conrad’s eyes scan my body and pause for half a second longer on my lower half before shooting his eyes back to mine.
“Why don’t you have any clothes on?” he gawks, his voice completely stunned. His eyes are suddenly glued to the ceiling as if I’m standing before him wearing nothing at all. Annie, who has been patiently sitting next to him, can’tresist saying hello any longer and is trying to jump into my arms. I bend over to say hello to her before moving away from the door so my neighbors don’t join in on my unplanned show.
“Because you got here early and I haven’t had time to dress yet,” I call back to him as I hurry towards my closet.
“You said to pick you up at eight,” I hear him bark out before hearing the noticeable sound of the door closing.
“And it’s not eight yet, last I checked,” I call back. I quickly throw on a black pair of joggers, a long sleeved T-shirt, and I’m reaching for my favorite jumper when Annie is suddenly in the closet with me.
“Hello, pretty girl,” I coo to her, warranting a butt shake from her in thanks. When I have my jumper and trainers in hand, I carry both out to the living room with Annie in tow. When I reach the living room, I find Conrad standing with his arms crossed next to the front door as if he is too afraid to come any further inside. He has a scowl on his face as he studies my flat for the first time.
“Well, what do you think?” I ask, letting out a short breath and dropping my shoes to the floor.
“Ithinkyou should be more punctual. And not open your door naked, someone could have seen you,” he sneers.
“Okay, first, I wasn’t naked. I was wearing nothing less than I would wear to a beach or the pool. And two.” I wait for him to look at me and smile confidently before I continue. “What if I wanted someone to see me?” I pump my brows at him and can swear I see his cheeks flush the faintest bit.
“Well now we’re late,” he mumbles to himself and I have to bite back my laugh.
“I haven’t eaten anything yet this morning. Do you mind stopping at the coffee shop so I can grab some food? I wasgoing to make myself breakfast but clearly fell behind. I feel awful making us late. I can see how important timeliness is to you.”
With a heavy sigh, he drops his arms and gives me a contemptuous look. “Fine. We can stop for food. Are you ready to go?”
I give him my biggest smile and I can see him fighting his own. “Yep, I’m ready.”
“Thank god, let’s go. Annie, come.” She comes running and sits politely at his feet while he latches her leash to her harness. We both step out into my hallway and he waits for me to lock my door. As we head for the lift, I glance over at him. Our eyes meet for a second before he looks away and pretends as if he is looking at the floor.
“Are you always this grouchy in the morning or is it just because I was late?” I ask, trying to break the tension. He takes a deep breath before replying.
