Page 27 of It Happened on a Sunday
“Okay, okay! Sorry, I had to ask.”
I’m not so sure he did, but since he finally seems to be moving on, I don’t push it.
“So you don’t even know if she’s getting the stuff you send?” he asks after a minute.
I shake my head. “No, she definitely got the ice cream. She thanked me over text.”
“Eyy, you got her number after all!” He claps me on the back, smiling. “I’m impressed. Lemme see. Maybe there’s some subtext or shit.”
“It was six words, Marquis. Not a lot of room for subtext.” Cringing, I pull out my phone and swipe it open to my meager conversation with Sloane. Only to find that, after four damn days, she’s texted again.
Sloane:Espresso
Sloane:Sorry, just saw this
What the ever-loving hell?
“Wait, she’s texting you right now?” Marquis leans over my shoulder to watch the three little blue dots bounce across the screen as we wait for whatever she’s currently typing to come through.
Except it never does. The dots bounce around for a moment, then disappear. Then bounce some more before disappearing again. I keep watching, but this time they stay gone.
“That’s it?” Marquis sounds outraged on my behalf. “Espresso? That’s all she’s got after four days?”
“Looks like.” Jesus. I waited four days for a shot of caffeine. “I’m definitely leaning toward her not being interested.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He nods. Terrific. He might as well punch me in the gut while he’s at it. “But she did answer your text when she didn’t have to,” he says, trying to cheer meup. Then ruins it again by adding, “I guess that’s not much consolation.”
“You saying it would console you?” I ask.
“No, but I would ask her about it. See what she has to say.”
“I’m trying not to freak her out. The last thing she needs is some heavy-handed guy harassing her. I’m sure there are plenty in her fanbase already.”
“Is that what you’re planning on doing?” He sounds skeptical. “Harassing her?”
“You already know the answer to that,” I snap.
“I do, but do you?Sheasked foryournumber. She texted you, then texted you back even if it took a while. So it’s not harassing to ask if she wants to chat sometime. If she says no, fine. Move on. But it doesn’t hurt to shoot your shot, especially after she reached out again, as lame as it was.”
I start to argue, but he cuts me off. “Either way, figure your shit out quick or Coach is going to be so far up your ass you’ll feel him for the rest of the season.”
“No offense, Marquis, because I really do appreciate the talk. But I knew all this before we sat down.” I start to stand back up, hoping a quick half hour on the weights will help me get my head right, but he holds out a hand.
“Chill, Sly,” he tells me with a shake of his head. “I’m just laying out the facts while I think this through. The way I see it, you’ve got two options. One, you decide to forget about Sloane Walker, and in a few days you’ll be back to normal—”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Okay, maybe it’ll take more than a few days. But you’re notin lovewith her, right?”
“I don’t even know her,” I tell him, though after what I saw in her eyes the night of the concert, that doesn’t seem quite right, either. I’d never admit it to him, but I definitelylikeher.
“Exactly what I’m saying, and with these dry-ass texts, you’renot gonna get the chance to. So either you forget about her,or…”
“Or what?” I ask warily, because my best friend is grinning like the devil himself.
“Or you up the ante.”
“Meaning what exactly? Punk out and try to have Vivian get in touch with her manager again?”
