Page 69 of The Luck of Finding You
“Morning.” I yawn.
“Technically, afternoon, but you had a late night, so we can pretend it’s morning.” Gran passes me the syrup.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have left,” I say as I take a bite of the sugary goodness. Gran’s pancakes are to die for. If I had to pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be these.
“You shouldn’t have. You could have had a long, romantic night with Noah.” Gran sighs. She’s always been a romantic too.
“That’s not what would have happened.” I didn’t even tell her about our almost-kiss yesterday, but I swear she has a sixth sense for these kinds of things, just like Mom did.
Gran eyes me carefully. “You really trying to tell me that you and that boy were alone in a hotel room and nothing happened? I’ve seen enough movies to know that’s not a thing.”
I curse silently when I feel my cheeks grow warm. “Nothing happened.” It’s true, nothingactuallyhappened. Even though thingsalmosthappened. Then they didn’t, and I have Noah’s hurt face permanently stuck in my brain.
But I’m not going to tell her any of that. It’ll just give her the satisfaction of being right. Which isn’t what she needs right now.
“He kissed you!” Gran grins.
“He did not kiss me,” I say, stuffing my mouth with another bite. And I am not going to bring up the kiss from last week. “He was a perfect gentleman. Just like he always is.”
“But you wanted him to kiss you?” Gran asks, waving the spatula around.
“Gran!” I groan. “It wouldn’t have been fair to either of us. I was there to meet another guy.”
“And your favorite author.” She smiles.
“But also another guy,” I grumble. Suddenly nauseous, I push away my plate. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Gran reaches across the counter and touches my hand softly. “I’m sorry he didn’t show. Maybe he texted and told you why?”
I nod slowly. “Maybe.” My stomach is in knots as I move away from the counter. “I’ll go check, I guess. And I’ll see when Noah is going to come pick up his dog.” Noah’s dog, Mo, lies on the rug by Gran’s feet. He was sound asleep when I got home and didn’t even jump up to greet me until this morning.
“He’s picking him up tomorrow. That was our deal. I am not giving this dog back till then,” Gran tells me, eating her own pancake.
“Oh-kay,” I say, dragging out the word. “Maybe you should just get your own dog.”
“Too much work,” Gran says, swatting her hand in the air. “Maybe you should just date Noah and I can see this one all the time.”
“Gran.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll be quiet. Go see what your men have to say.”
My heart skips a beat when I see the notification from Noah.
I’m in New York. Family emergency. Could your grandma watch Mo for a couple more days? I owe you one. <3
I stare at my phone for several minutes, trying to interpret the text. It must be his sister he's visiting, since his mom lives in Colorado. I try to ignore the butterflies I get when I see the heart at the end of his text, but I can’t stop looking at it. I don’t know how to process how it sparks a tiny bit of hope within my chest. Maybe I didn’t mess everything up with Noah by trying to meet Mo and then leaving when I got stood up.
Gran will love to watch Mo for a couple of days. Hope everything is okay.
I delete a heart before I push send though. I’m not sure I’m ready to go there just yet.
There’s also a message from Mo.
MoReads:I know you don’t want to hear from me, but I can’t end things like this. I am so, so sorry. I would love to explain what happened last night, but I understand if you don’t want to hear it.
The message is from two hours ago. I sigh. I’m still embarrassed and angry. It would have to be something huge for me to be able to forgive him.
I put my phone on my bed facedown, only to pick it right back up again. I start to type out a response, but then I realize that I don’t have anything left to say to Mo. He didn’t show, and that said more than any words ever will.
