Page 42 of Love or Leave

"Oh, thank God," Cara said with a laugh as she plopped onto her chair. The familiar give of warn padding felt reassuring after her momentary panic. "I thought you died, and I'd have to delay my dissertation."

Her professor let out a gargle sound, but didn't quip back with a snarky one-liner like she normally did.

She must've been very badly off.

"Just rest," Cara said, spinning in a little circle in her chair toward her screens. "I'll take care of everything here."

It was actually going to be nice to have the lab to herself. She could take her lunch whenever she wanted and listen to her music instead of the classical music her professor insisted on. Plus, she could leave early and get to golf on time.

"The meteor event is tonight. I need you to lead it."

Oh no.

"I have golf tonight," she said, thinking about how she'd left the date with Jalen last week. It had started disastrously, but Jalen actually ended up being funny and nice. She wanted to give it a chance, and she was excited to see him again.

"There's no one else—" Dr. Tanaka’s voice broke on a guttural puking sound. "I have to go," she said.

Cara reared back in disgust. "Ew, okay, I'll do it," she said.

A noise came through that might have been “thanks.” Then the line went dead.

Cara tossed her phone onto her desk and sat back with a sigh.

Well, that sucked.

She was finally coming around to Jalen. They'd texted back and forth a bit that weekend and seemed to be less awkward around each other. She'd even been studying up on golf.

She knew who Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were, and she knew the difference between a birdie and an eagle, and what a handicap meant. She'd even picked up Antonio's clubs from Max. She was ready.

But there was no way she could do both. The members of the Royal Astrological Society would start showing up at the observatory at sundown, which was the same time as her lesson.

With a sigh, she picked up her phone and started typing a message to Jalen. Halfway through, she stopped.

Maybe she should ask him to come to the observatory. It would give her a chance to show him what she did for work and school. Besides, everyone loved meteor showers, right?

She erased what she'd already typed out and started over.

Cara: I can't make it to golf, I have to go to the observatory to run a special event. There's a meteor shower tonight. Would you like to come with me?

She hit send and waited. A few moments later, a reply.

Jalen: Sorry, I don't want to miss golf. We're working on our short game tonight.

She rolled her eyes, telling herself she shouldn't be annoyed, but she was definitely annoyed. Maybe it was because he seemed completely disinterested in anything to do with her, or maybe it was because he could work on his short game literally any other night for the rest of his life.

It was just fucking mini putt.

He took golf way too seriously. But then she met him at a golf lesson, so what did she expect? And she knew he already had plans. It had been a long shot at best.

Antonio would've said yes.

She dropped her head onto her desk, then banged it a couple times against the metal for good measure. Why were the recesses of her brain filled with Antonio?

Antonio was married.

Antonio was in love with Fran. Perfect, tiny, giant-chested Fran.

And Antonio was going to be back with Fran as soon as she pulled her beautiful little head out of her stupid, sculpted ass and dropped Blake Hunter.

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