Page 23 of Fear of Love
“So,” Josie started.
There it was.
“That was nice of Landon to get us a drink,” Tasha said offhandedly.
“Yep.” I nodded, purposely not looking at them as the line to the bathroom slowly moved.
“Especially when he hasn’t done that before,” Mila added. The side of my face burned from their questioning gazes.
“Some would even say he seems to be staring a lot,” Tasha continued.
“Hmm, hadn’t noticed.” I shrugged as I lied. I totally noticed and felt Landon’s eyes on me periodically. The annoyed sighs behind me made my lips twitch.
“The guy clearly likes you Lydia.” Josie was the one to say it.
“Yeah, right. The guy can barely stand me.” I shook my head, immediately banishing that thought. He may have apologized and took me to get food, but it didn’t mean helikedme.
“Maybe it comes off that way because he doesn’t know how to tell you he likes you,” Tasha said, her tone taking on a more contemplative one. “A lot of the time, people, men especially, don’t know how to vocalize their feelings, so instead, they find other ways to show it.”
“See, he doesn’t know how to express himself.” Josie nudged my arm.
“Even if he does like me, I don’t want a relationship, and I doubt he does, either.” I might’ve been slightly jealous of my friends’ relationships, but I didn’t actually want one. The last time I was in a long-term relationship, it turned out horrible—stomp-on-my-heart-and-never-recover horrible. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through that again. Plus, I was always busy with work. They didn’t call me a workaholic for nothing.
“Since when did fun require a relationship? Fun doesn’t always come with strings.” Tasha’s eyes sparkled as she threw me a cheeky smile.
The girls dropped the conversation, but Tasha’s words lingered in my head as we used the bathroom and headed back to our seats.
7
LYDIA
Thursday and Friday went by uneventfully. It was a nice change after a hectic few weeks getting the magazine ready. The office was empty since everyone already left to start their weekend.
I was just finishing up on some documents when Josie poked her head into my office. “Hey, Lyd. Ready to go in a few minutes?”
“Let me quickly save this and I’m good to go.”
In a little over two hours, Mateo was set to play in his first playoff game. Last year, his team lost one too many games to qualify, but this year, they were ranked number one in their division. It’s all Mateo has been able to talk about in our group chat.
The girls and I came up with an idea to hold posters in the stands to cheer him on. We had seats right above Mateo’s team, so he would definitely see us.
This would be the only game, other than the championship one, we could come and watch so we wanted to go all out. If Mateo’s team won, they’d be on the road for the next one before playing the final game back here at home.
“Mila has the posters right?” I asked, shutting my computer down.
“Yeah, and Tasha has the blow horns.”
Mateo was going to be so embarrassed by us. I wanted to say the blow horns were our idea, but it was actually the guys’. Since we had our posters, they wanted something, too. I just knew we were going to be kicked out before the game was over.
Going over to the bag I packed, I pulled out a University of Torontoshirt. Since Mateo was only in uni, we couldn’t get actual jerseys with his name and number on them, so instead, we made do with the red and white school shirts, although it was going to be freezing.
“Wyatt said he’s on his way. Hope you don’t mind Evelyn driving with us. Wy didn’t want her to drive alone,” Josie said.
“Of course.” With the office empty, I quickly stripped out of my work blouse and put the other shirt on. “Bet Evelyn is excited.”
I adored Landon’s mom. She was probably one of the nicest people I ever met. The moment you met Evelyn, she made you feel like you were part of the family, immediately pulling you into a hug. I’ve never had someone take me in so quickly and effortlessly, even when she barely knew me.
“Pretty sure she’s more excited than Mateo.” It was beyond amazing how supportive Evelyn was of her kids and the sports they played. In the year and half I’ve known her, I learned just how selfless she was, giving and doing so much to ensure her kids had everything they needed to succeed.
