Page 82 of Thanks for the Friendship
I tell him all about my passion, and how I remember the excitement of visiting homes with my mother when she worked in real estate.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” I tell him. “There’s something magical about the moment a family buys their first home, or even better, their dream home. I think about how much I love the house I grew up in and want to be a part of that for someone else.”
He smiles. “That’s cool. I can’t wait to buy a home of my own. It’s just me—so I haven’t been ready to take that step yet.”
I sip my wine. “Sara was ready to take that step.”
He puts his glass down on the coffee table. “Yes, well some of that was for show. She was very into how other people perceived us.”
I place my glass down next to his. Sara is still the elephant that we need to talk about. I don’t want to ruin the vibe we have going on between us, but it will come up at some point. I prefer to just get it over with.
“So, a few weeks ago I broke up with my boyfriend Jordan. He’s a great person, but I knew I couldn’t commit to him. There wasn’t a specific reason other than, it just didn’t feel right. I made a plan to take time to work on myself and continue to build my career.”
He smiles. “Good for you.”
I chew on my lip as I try to find the words I want to say. “I can’t help but wonder if you need time to do the same.”
He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, and the silence is deafening.
“You have a point,” he agrees, his tone serious. My heart sinks at the thought of going another day away from this man. Ugh. Maybe I should learn to keep my mouth shut.
“If it’ll make you comfortable, I’m willing to take a step back.”
I open my mouth, but no words come out.
“But I want to make it clear that I’m doing it for you,” he continues without hesitation. “I don’t need time because I know what I want, and I don’t have a single doubt about it.”
“What do you want?” I ask, my voice shaking. I wonder if he can hear the pounding of my heart against my chest.
He nudges closer to me on the couch, keeping his eyes fixated on mine.
“I want more nights like this,” he says, his voice thick with reassurance. “I want to get caught making out while playing mini golf. I want to have donuts at one clock in the morning. And I want to be with the dream girl I let go when I was eighteen.”
How long can a person go without oxygen? I’m just wondering because Cal has taken my breath away. I guess it’s a good thing he’s a doctor.
Being a serial dater, I’ve heard some of the best, most creative pickup lines ever invented. Usually I have a snarky comeback, but in this moment I have nothing.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
I need to say or do something. At this point I have a few options—I could run, or I could completely give in and allow myself to be happy. Completely happy.
“I was just thinking that we should get donuts,” I say nonchalantly.
He looks confused.
“I’m kidding—well, sort of,” I say with a giggle.
I move to sit on his lap, straddling his legs.
“I think that I’m ready to throw all my plans out the window and be with the one man I’ve never been able to forget.”
He takes my face in his hands and kisses me with more urgency than any of the previous kisses.
“You had me really worried for a minute.”
“I’m sorry.”
He puts his forehead to mine. “Now let’s go get some donuts.”
