Page 33 of My Grumpy Sweetheart
Should I message him again?
Ask him about that date?
I wanted to, but I didn’t want to annoy him. On Sunday, I’d told him that the only thing I wanted to know was where we were standing. And he’d said he wanted a second date, so maybe he was just busy. Maybe something had come up workwise. Not that I knew what he was working as.
Well, besides my theory that he was a mercenary. But that’d been a joke. Mostly.
I think.
Fuck.I stopped in the middle of my hall and sank against the nearest wall, hitting my head lightly against it.
I was going mad. The uncertainty was killing me. That was exactly why I’d told Dakota I wanted to know where we were at —
so that something like this didn’t happen.
I’d been there before. Exes telling me that everything was fine, yet there were fewer and fewer texts coming, the time between them growing with every day. And then the inevitable happened. The breakup. Them telling me that it just wasn’t working. That I was too loud. To needy. To hyper. It was always the same. Always.
So this time, I’d wanted to be upfront. Be blunt. And yet… it was happening all over again, but somehow, it was even worse than before.
Brushing a stray tear out the corner of my eye, I grabbed my phone.
I didn’t know if Parker was at home or if he was busy with his Mateo, but… I needed a friend. Someone who knew at least a little bit about the situation I was going through. Granted, his weekend-getaway date had turned out really different from mine, but still. He’d tried the auction thing, too.
Taking a deep breath, I hit the call button and slid down the wall until I sat crouched against it, my knees pulled up to my chin.
“Hey, Bailey. Did you call to tell me about your date? I was a little surprised and worried I didn’t get a call on Sunday. But your message said it was good?”
A lump built in my throat. “It was good…” Biting my lip, I hit my forehead against my knees. It’d been so, so good. Far better than I’d expected. We’d both hit it off — at least that’s what I thought on Sunday. But now it was Wednesday.
“But?” Parker asked, immediately sounding more alert.
“I don’t know.” I let out a heavy sigh. “He needed a little time to warm up to me, but… you know me. I know I’m a lot, but I really thought we’d hit it off on Saturday. I mean… in the morning he’d barely look at me and by the end of the day he spanked me and fucked me within an inch of my life. Hello? It doesn’t get much closer than that. And on Sunday, we just picked right up where we’d left off…”
Parker sighed. “First of all, TMI, Bailey. TMI. Second, you won’t be a lot to the right person. And trust me, I’m an expert on that. I spent my whole life apologizing for being too much. Ok, sorry. TED talk over. What happened on Sunday? It sounds like everything was great, but you sound sad.”
I laughed. “I’m not sad. I’m at a complete loss and on the verge of going crazy. I asked him point blank if he wanted a second date and that I only wanted honesty, and he said yes. But ever since I dropped him off on Sunday, he left me on read. He doesn’t reply to my messages and hasn’t tried contacting me himself. I tried twice, but I’m not sure if I should wait or text him again?”
I just wanted him to answer. To have an explanation why he went all Houdini on me.
Parker stayed quiet for such a long time, I actually pulled my phone away from my ear to see if the call was still going. Then, finally, he cleared his throat. “How much do you like him?”
Closing my eyes, I hit my head against my knees again. “Probably entirely too much for only having spent a weekend together.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Parker said, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Hysterically.
“Yeah. When I fuck up by falling for the wrong guy, I’m not throwing any punches. I go all in.” Which was another thing about me being too much that my exes used to criticize. And yet I’d done it again.
“I want to tell you to just fuck him, and not in the fun way, and forget about him, but if you really like him as much as I think you do, text him one more time. I think you’ll question the what if’s if you don’t.” Parker sounded reluctant, but the next words were said with a lot more force and conviction. “But Bailey, if he doesn’t answer, if he’s really ghosting you, don’t waste your time on him. Trust me, I’m an expert on dating stupid fucks and you deserve better. He doesn’t get to be an asshole, no matter howmuchyou think you are..”
“Thanks.” I tried smiling, even though he couldn’t see it and I didn’t really feel like it. Smiling was the first step to trick my body into believing I was happy, which was the first step to actually being happy. “I’ll try that. And then… I guess I’ll have to figure out which god is most likely to listen to my prayers. I really hope I won’t have to like… sacrifice a goat or a lamb or anything.”
Parker snorted, and a little spark of warmth traveled through my body. Making others laugh never failed to make me happy.
“Never change, Bailey.”
“I’m not planning to. Oh, hey, next time we meet, I’ll bring a great snack. Dehydrated apples dipped in chocolate. I made them myself because I have entirely too many apples left.”
“Um, yes please. Anything dipped in chocolate is a yes, please.
