Page 84 of Another Love, Another Time
Auggie laughs. “What’s she doing now?”
“What is she not doing? She thinks she needs to come into my room every morning and wake me up, like I’m still in high school. She keeps rearranging my stuff in my room. And I’ve seen her wearing some of my clothes. My. Clothes. I can’t with her. I just need my own space. I’m too damn old to be living with my mom.”
We stopped for lunch at Firehouse Subs. We are sitting at a table waiting for our number to be called.
Ever since our talk, it’s been easier to talk to Auggie, to let him in a little, but there is still some tension. Auggie knows I haven’t told him everything. I can’t put my finger on it, but I don’t think Auggie has told me everything either. Sometimes when he’s talking, I can tell he wants to say something else, but then he changes the subject.
I can feel my walls slowly coming down. We have quickly fallen back into a friendship again. We talk or text daily, like when we were kids. Melissa hasn’t been brought up lately, and I’m glad. I know what I need to know about her.
Auggie and I are completely in the friend zone. I can’t give him more than that right now. Especially if she is still living with him. I don’t trust her.
Auggie interrupts my thoughts by asking me a question, “Are you wanting to rent or buy?”
“I want to buy. I’d like to own something.”
“I can hook you up with a realtor. It’s a friend from high school. He helped me find my house, and he works quickly.”
“Really?” I ask, getting excited.
“Yeah. Let me send him a text. He’s usually fast to respond.” He picks up his phone and sends the text.
“Awesome. The sooner the better.”
“You want me to come with you? I can look at the foundation, heating and air, and electrical items to give you a quick idea of any possible repairs. You’d still want to have an inspection, but if you are trying to decide between two properties, I can give you a brief idea of what would need to be repaired.”
“You’d do that?” I ask.
Auggie acts surprised by my question. “Yeah, I’d love to do that for you.”
“Give your guy my number, and I’ll let you know when we start looking. I appreciate it, Auggie. Now I’ll have to break it to my mom.” I giggle.
“She’ll be okay.”
I hear our number being called. Auggie grabs our food and brings it back to our table.
“Thanks,” I tell him.
“I’m starving.” We sit in silence for a few minutes as we eat. Then, Auggie asks, “I wanted to ask if you have any plans this weekend. If you don’t, do you want to do something with me?”
“Just you and me or with a group?” I say around a mouthful.
“Just us,” he responds.
“Aug—”
He cuts me off. “Just hear me out. I know we are just friends.” He says something under his breath that sounds like “for now,” but I ignore it. “I’ve noticed you like to listen to that group Wild Rivers, and I happened to notice they will be performing in St. Louis this weekend. I thought it might be fun for us to go. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I checked ticket prices. They were almost sold out, so I went ahead and bought tickets for us. I understand if you don’t want to—”
I interrupt him this time. “Yes! Yes. I’ll go. I’m so excited! I’ve wanted to see them for so long. Let me know what my ticket cost is, and I’ll give you the money for it.”
“No. It’s a gift. Just let me do this for you.”
“I don’t—” I argue.
“Just let me do this. They really weren’t that much.” I give him a look. He continues, “How about you pay for the drinks and food if it bothers you that much.”
“Deal. Thanks, Auggie!” Without thinking, I go to grab his pinkie with mine. As soon as I feel the contact, I pull away.
I think I’ve caught us both off guard. Before I can pull my hand to my side, he grabs it and intertwines our pinkies. “Riv, it’s okay. I know I have a long way to go to earn my way back into your life. I also know the only reason I’m getting as much time with you is because you are basically forced to be with me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t use that to my advantage to rebuild our relationship.
