Page 53 of Accidentally Yours
Dropping her bag on the kitchen table, she kicked off her shoes, still feeling the last of Alice and Gigi’s encouragement in her chest.
Write something. Anything. Verbal vomit on the page until something breaks loose.
Her friends knew enough about her creative process to encourage her to do what had worked for writer’s block in the past. And she’d needed that reminder more than she realized.
Grabbing her laptop out of her bag, Paige padded into her bedroom. She threw on her favorite, well-worn pajamas, cuddled up in bed, and stacked pillows behind her. Setting the computer on her lap, she opened it. The screen illuminated and the Google Doc blinked to life, the cursor still parked mid-sentence in the chapter she’d nearly abandoned.
But something had changed. A comment bubble glowed in the margin.
Paige leaned closer, her heart suddenly in her throat.
Ethan: This doesn’t read like your usual stuff. Are you okay?
Paige sat frozen, staring at Ethan’s comment. He knew she was off. Not the pacing or the plot. He’d noticed her. That she wasn’t okay. But should she tell him why?
Sliding the laptop closer, she hit “reply.” Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, thinking about what to say.
Paige: I am off. It’s been hard to write since you said you needed space. I don’t know if I should say that . . . but I just did.
She hit send before she could talk herself out of it. Sucking in a breath, she stared at the screen, fingers itching to delete her comment.
Tell him you’ve been busy. Haven’t had time to write. That the pressure got to you. Don’t tell him the truth.But just as her finger hovered over the touchpad, ready to delete her comment, another bubble popped up.
Paige jerked back against the pillows, staring at the new reply.
Ethan was awake? He’d just read her comment?
Paige leaned forward and gobbled up his reply.
Ethan: I didn’t want to pull away. I saw a notification on your phone. The dating app. A message from someone. It threw me.
Paige’s stomach dropped.What?She reached over on her nightstand and grabbed her phone, thumbs flying to the app she hadn’t touched in weeks. When she scrolled to it, she saw the notifications. The missed messages. She set her phone down without reading a single one and looked back at her laptop. Ethan added another comment.
Ethan: I shouldn’t have looked. Your dating life isn’t my business. But it surprised me how much it hurt.
Paige’s breath caught.It hurt him?She reread his words three times, her chest rising and falling with increased breaths. Did that mean he’d caught feelings for her too?
Her first instinct was to joke, to downplay it, to wrap her vulnerability in humor. But sitting here, in front of her computer, the physical distance from Ethan made her brave. She had a barrier. At least now, if she opened her heart and Ethan crushed it, she didn’t have to see his face. And she wouldn’t have to hide the disappointment on hers.
She began typing.
Paige: I haven’t opened that app since our first writing session. I didn’t even know there were messages waiting. I’m not dating anyone . . . except you. I know it’s supposed to be fake, but I’m really enjoying our time together………………
Paige could’ve typed a million ellipses at the end of her reply. She had a lot more to say, but just those few sentences felt like jamming her foot on the gas pedal, racing toward a cliff with no brakes. After she hit send, Paige squeezed her eyes shut, regret settling in her chest.
What is he thinking right now?She was terrified to know.
After a minute, when she finally worked up the courage to open her eyes, there was a reply waiting.
Ethan: I’ve been enjoying our time too. And that’s what scared me. I didn’t know how to handle it when everything started to feel . . . real.
Paige’s hand went to her mouth. Her breath caught in her throat.
Another comment appeared.
Ethan: Can I ask you something?
Her fingers flew to the keyboard.
