Page 95 of Not Dating Material

When I finally spill over my hand, I take a photo of the sticky mess and send the picture back to him.

Me:

Mine work just fine on their own.

Then I collapse onto my bed, knowing it’s only a matter of time before Molly gets what he wants.

Again.

Chapter 26

MOLLY

I spend the next few days turning over what Seven said in my mind. I don’t want to let people in. I’d call him on his bullshit, but the more I think about it, the more I’m worried he’s onto something. How many times have I gone to tell Dad something and shied away because keeping it close to the chest is easier? How many times would I be hanging out with him and Will and then slowly slink away into the background because I didn’t feel like the center of their attention?

I take a deep breath and walk outside to where Madden is doing his morning yoga, Kismet half-hidden under one of the bushes, watching him like a little perve.

“Gonna join me?” Madden asks, glancing over.

“Nah, not today.”

“Starting the day with exercise is good for you. Especially when you’re holed up in that office at a desk for hours.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been told.”

“What’s going on?”

And I should have known Madden would pick up on something. He’s oddly intuitive.

“What was I like in college?”

Madden thinks for a second, stretching his arms out slowly to the side. “Quiet,” he answers.

“Quiet?”

“Not as in you didn’t talk or whatever. You did. But … how do I put it? I didn’t know much about you. When we went out, you were fun, but otherwise, through the week, you’d just stick with Will, always either working or studying.”

“Seven thinks I shut people out.”

“And do you?”

“I … don’t know.”

“It’s an interesting theory. I feel like I know you a lot better since you’ve moved in than in the years we had in college.”

“Right.” I huff. “I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“Do you have to feel any way about it?”

I frown at Madden stretching out his hamstrings. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re aware of it now. Can’t you … move forward?”

It sounds so simple when Madden puts it that way, but he should know as well as anyone that it isn’t that easy. When he was injured in college, it took him all year to come to terms with the fact that he’d never play professional ball. He could have rejoined the team, maybe even had a great season, but his shoulder was fucked, and after the operation, he was more of a liability than anything.

“I could try to let people in more …” I think out loud.

“It kinda sounds like you don’t want to.”

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