Page 50 of New Girl in Town
I looked nervouslyover the top of my menu at Grant. We sat in a cute Italian place I’d walked by dozens of times but hadn’t stopped in yet. It was just around the corner from our apartment building, which made me excited for future visits because the smells coming out the kitchen were delicious.
Normally I’d be trying to decide if I wanted to go with pasta or not, especially when there was pizza from a wood-fire oven available, but now? Now I was trying to find the right opening to tell Grant about my divorce.
Grant noticed. Hell, even the waiter noticed when I jumped a mile in the air when they came to collect our drink orders. I’d opted for a strong red table wine, hoping it would loosen me up some, but so far all it did was give me something other than my menu to fiddle with.
Maybe if I gulped it? I gave the wine glass a considering look but Grant’s voice pulled me from my wine-chugging mathematics.
“What’s going on?” he asked, setting his menu down.
“Nothing,” I said, but I sounded off. My voice was tinny and strained—it sounded a touch panicked, which made Grant lean forward and lower his voice.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I asked, trying to ignore the look of concern painted on his face.
“You just seem...strained,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Is this because I said the B-word earlier?” Now it was his turn to look panicked, and I almost laughed at how adorable he appeared.
“What? No. Of course not. You can be my boyfriend.”
“Because we don’t have to do that yet, we can take it slow if you’re nervous.”
“Grant, that’s not it. I prom—”
He shook his head, looking out the window. “I’m just excited about you. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”
“Really, everything is fine—”
“You just make me lose my head a little. I’m a romantic, okay? Can we just pretend I never said it?”
I crossed my arms and sighed. “Grant. I swear, it’s not because you said—”
“Let’s just rewind it back to the blue flower mess of a dress and pretend we teleported here, okay?”
“It’s not because of the B-word, okay?”
“Then why have you been acting weird the entire time we’ve been here?”
“I haven’t been acting weird.”
“You have, you’ve barely said two words.”
“Fine, you want to know why I’m acting weird?” I asked, and he threw his hands out.
“Um, yes, that’d be really nice,” he said, making me grit my teeth, because this was so not how I envisioned telling him.
“I’m divorced, okay? And I was going to tell you because, yeah, you said the B-word and I liked it, but I thought you should know that about me. I’m divorced and it was very recent. You’re the first guy I’ve dated since then, so I don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Date. Have a boyfriend.” I flicked a finger between us. “Have a boyfriend and a healthy relationship.”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I’d say you’re doing just fine, sweetheart.”
I blew out a deep sigh and snatched up my wine. My heart pounded a mile a minute, and I sipped at my wine in an effort to calm myself down. I’d done it, I’d told him, but that didn’t mean I knew how he would react now that he knew.
“Well?” I prompted him when he opened his menu back up.
“Well what?” Grant glanced at me, and I bit back a wave of frustration.
