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“Thank you. I really am sorry. I let my own stupid shit get in the way.”

“It’s fine. I pushed too soon.”

I decided it was time to try to clear up some of the murkiness between us. “What are we doing, Mason?” I typed and sent.

I didn’t get an answer right away, which made me a little nervous, but then I saw the bubbles pop up, indicating he was typing. Finally, his response flashed on my screen. “I don’t really know. I do know I like talking to you. A lot. I also know when I didn’t hear from you today, and thought I might never again, it sucked.”

The smile was back as I typed out, “Same.”

“So, what next?”

Good question, Mason, I thought for a moment before I responded. “Let’s keep talking. Only no pictures. Just talking. See what happens. This is just something fun, right?” I wasn’t sure why I added the last part. Obviously, we were both getting something out of our text conversations if we both wanted to keep doing it, but what exactly was it we were getting and to what end? Did it have to be going somewhere? Couldn’t we just enjoy it in the moment for what it was?

Mason’s response popped up on my screen, “I’m game.” It was followed immediately by a second message. “Sure. Just something fun.”

I glanced at the time on my phone and was shocked to see how late it was. As much as I liked talking to Mason, I still needed to get my ass up the next morning. “Good. I hate to make up and run, but I really should get to bed.”

“Was this our first fight?”

I snickered. “Don’t make it weird, Mason.”

“Good night, Anna. I’ll talk to you soon.”

I wanted to be sure our conversation ended on a completely positive note. I quickly flipped back to my meme search from earlier and started scrolling until I found the perfect one to send to Mason. It was of a dachshund puppy wearing pajamas and little slippers on its feet that said, “Good Night. Sweet Dreams.”

I continued to scroll through the memes until Mason responded. “I see you’re finally starting to come around.”

I let out a low laugh. “I’ve never looked up puppy and kitty memes before. Why are there so damn many of them? And why are they so oddly addicting?”

“Welcome to the dark side. Your life will never be the same. Now get some rest. It’s late where you are.”

I snuggled into my comforter as I read his most recent message. I had a feeling my life was never going to be the same, but for a reason that had nothing to do with puppy or kitty memes.

Chapter 5

Coffee Guy

IT WAS FRIDAY, AND I was scrolling through my phone while waiting outside the classroom for Liam. It was coffee date day.

Mason and I had been texting regularly since the night I apologized to him. It had been really fun getting to know him more, and conversation flowed easily between us. Most of the time we just talked about what we were doing that day, or threw out random silly questions to each other. He knew more about me than most of the people in my life I saw on a regular basis…with the exception of Bree and Sarah.

“You ready?” Liam’s deep voice came from behind me. Our professor for Art History also happened to be Liam’s advisor, and he’d needed to stay after class for a few moments to talk to her.

I turned to him and smiled. “Yes, let’s do this! Any thoughts on where we’re going?” I slipped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans before pulling on my coat.

Liam gave me a shy smile. “I was thinking Bella’s? The coffee shop on the other side of campus? They have good coffee, and it shouldn’t be too crowded on a Friday afternoon.”

“Sounds great.” I couldn’t help but smile at Liam again. His dark, curly hair peeked out from the edge of his beanie and he was wearing a red plaid flannel shirt unbuttoned over a T-shirt for some band I’d never heard of. Liam really was good-looking and incredibly kind. I’d met him the prior year in a class we shared. I was dating Oliver at the time, but after the breakup, Liam helped me out in a few of my classes and we quickly became friends.

Liam and I made small talk while we walked across campus together. As he’d predicted, the coffee shop was relatively empty when we walked in. We picked a table toward the back, and after we set our backpacks down, Liam went up front to order our coffees.

I’d just taken off my tan coat and settled into my chair when I felt my phone buzz. I pulled it out of the back pocket of my jeans with the intention of putting it in my backpack. I didn’t want any interruptions during my coffee date with Liam…but then, I saw the message was from Mason. “Favorite type of pasta?”

I smiled. It was part of our crazy question game. I looked up and saw Liam waiting for our coffees so I typed out a quick response. “The only kind. Spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce.”

“A classic. I’m more of a fettuccine Alfredo fan myself.”

“It’s all right you have terrible taste. I still like you.” I hit send before I fully realized what I’d typed. I’d just told Mason I liked him. What if he took it the wrong way? Then again, how exactly did I mean it? Was there a wrong way for him to take it?

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