Page 80 of This Thing Between Us

I sat back down, my seat directly across from hers. The tiny table held a small candle in the middle, and I took the liberty of ordering us a carafe of the house wine. It wasn’t my own blend, but rather a delicious Chianti that paired well with everything on the menu.

I placed my elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So, how do you feel about what you did today?”

Whitney’s face lit up. “Is it bad that I kind of liked it?”

I tossed my head back and laughed. “No, it’s not a bad thing at all.” I leaned forward even more. “In fact, I liked working with you. Even if I did have to hear that sniveling jackass hit on you for the better part of an hour.” I seethed as I listened to Coach Ramstrom hit on Whitney. As a beautiful woman, people probably hit on her all the time, but bearing witness to it first-hand brought me immense displeasure. I kept myself on mute most of the time I was on the call with Whitney to keep myself in check.

It would take everything in me not to punch the man the next time I saw him.

And then there were the drugs. My gut told me to trust Jeremy, and it hadn’t steered me wrong.

I called the chief right away, filling him in on what I had found. He reminded me that there was a sticky point: just because he had the drugs didn’t mean he was making the players take them. We would need more and that came in the form of student and parent complaints. At this rate, we had enough to investigate based on Jeremy’s statement alone. Still, we would need more.

After my conversation with the chief, I called Jeremy’s mom thanking her for her role. I didn’t disclose what I found, but I did ask if she had spoken with other students or parents about the coach forcing football players to take steroids. She hadn’t yet but promised to get me a list of trusted parents that I could go meet with. I’d get to work talking to all those parents first thing in the morning.

Now all I wanted to do was spend time with Whitney.

The waiter came over to take our orders. After he left, we just stared at each other.

Whitney gave me a tight smile and pulled out a small notebook. With precision, she opened it up to a page that had a pros and cons list. I leaned across the table, but she slapped her hand down on the page before I could get a good look at her paper.

Whitney wet her lips then broke the silence. “I’m prepared to talk about the winery now.”

I sank back in my chair and folded my hands loosely in front of me loving that Whitney had prepared for this conversation by writing everything down. It figured. I expected nothing less. Well, that’s not true. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she also baked a couple dozen cookies or cupcakes while making the list.

“Are you prepared to talk about us? About how you said you loved me in high school and when I said I loved you too, you bolted from my car like it was on fire?”

She winced.

I reached out to hold her hand. “Had you told me this during senior year, I would have said that I loved you too.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Well, I’d like to think I would have had the balls to finally admit to you that I loved you back.”

A look of hope crossed Whit’s face. “You would have?” Like she wasn’t sure she believed me.

I squeezed her hand. “Yes.”

Her shoulders slumped. Then she planted her head in her hands, elbows on the table. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

If only the stubborn woman across from me hadn’t run away. Had faced her fears and not let someone like Katie get in the way of us.

So much could have been different.

“I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.”

“I sure as hell wish you hadn’t left, Whitney,” I said softly. I didn’t want to upset her further, but she needed to know. “No more assumptions between us. If you want to know something, you ask. You don’t guess. You don’t decide on your own. We talk to each other. Just like we used to.”

Whitney released a shaky breath. “What happens now? How do you feel now?”

I scooted my chair so that I no longer gazed at her from across the table. I wanted closer as I answered. “My feelings haven’t changed. The question is, have yours?”

Blood rushed my ears as I waited for her to answer. I didn’t think it was possible to be this nervous around Whitney. Mybest friendof all people. I was always at my most comfortable with her.

Or at least I had been until it felt like I now had a whole lot more to lose.

I lost Whitney once. I couldn’t do it again.

Whitney did that lip biting thing that drove me crazy. “How would we do this? Realistically.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Well, we’d go on more dates, kinda like this one. We’d eat lots of pie at Barb’s, obviously. I’d fuck you every night, and hold you afterward, the two of us sleeping in my bed. Or we could go to your new place. Which I still don’t think you need by the way.”

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