Page 54 of Hot Response
“He took you to a plumbing emergency? It’s been a while since I was out there dating, but it seems like the bar used to be higher.”
Cait laughed, because Monica had a point. “It wasn’t really like that. I mean, sure, it’s a thing that happened over the course of our date, but it wasn’tpartof the date.”
“He should have told her he was busy and to call a plumber. Or brought you back to his place to wait so you weren’t on a plumbing call.”
It probably would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, but then Cait would have lost out on the extra time with Gavin. She liked riding shotgun with him, actually. He was a relaxed and confident driver, and he liked talking while he drove. Or sometimes singing along with the radio, which was fun because he was probably one of the worst singers she’d ever heard. He knew and didn’t care. He just sang, anyway.
“Or,” Monica continued, “maybe it was a sneaky way of introducing you to his sister without the pressure of an official meeting. It was all very casual, but now you’ve met her.”
“We’re nowhere near the meeting-the-family phase, if we’re even heading in that direction,” she responded, but Monica’s words had already started the mental wheels turning.
She could be right. Gavin was obviously close with his family, which was one of the things she liked about him.
“You said Carter played basketball with him yesterday, so there has been meeting of the family,” Monica pointed out.
“Yeah, but he’d already met Carter. Remember the Snapchat photo?” She paused while Monica laughed, remembering the string of text messages they’d exchanged about that one. “But he hasn’t come to the house and been introduced to my mother. And I haven’t met his parents.”
“Introducing a girl to your older sister is probably almost as daunting as introducing her to your mother.”
Cait smiled, remembering the look on his face when Jill told her she’d be in touch about thething.She hadn’t gotten to talk to his sister for very long, thanks to his anxiety about what she might tell Cait, but she liked her.
“Look at you,” Monica said, leaning back in her chair. “You practically glow when you think about him.”
“Maybe I’m thinking about how good the pie in that case looks.” But she knew Monica wouldn’t buy that. “Yeah, I like him. A lot. Which still seems bizarre to me because he’s thelastperson I ever thought I’d date because...well, I told you about how he called mema’am.I guess he was just being a gentleman.”
“Those are the ones you’ve gotta watch out for. When are you seeing him again?”
“Tomorrow. We both have it off, so it’ll be like a Saturday on a Monday, I guess.”
Monica shook her head. “I don’t think I could survive weird schedules. I like my nine-to-five just fine.”
Cait kind of liked it. Sometimes it was hard to mesh their schedules—especially hers, since it tended to change a lot—but having a weekday off together felt almost like stolen time just for them while everybody else was stuck in their usual routine.
“What’s your schedule look like for the end of the month?” Monica asked, pulling up the calendar on her phone. “We have to schedule drinks or a coffee or something so I can get an update.”
“I don’t even know.” But she pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen, which was still in the texting app. “Oh...shit.”
“What? Are you that busy?”
Cait turned the phone so she could see the screen. “I meant to send him the thumbs-up emoji and I must have missed and sent him the heart. I use it to end conversations with my mom, mostly, so they’re next to each other.”
“Girl.” Monica inhaled slowly, and then let it out with a breathy chuckle. “I guess that sends a message.”
“Maybe he’ll think it’s just a girl thing. He’s probably used to women signing off with hearts.”
“Maybe. How long have you guys been texting back and forth?”
“A couple of weeks, I guess.” Cait sighed. “And no, I haven’t signed off with a heart before.”
But she had now, and she had no idea what Gavin would make of it.
* * *
Gavin was up and showered by the time Cait sent him a text the next morning. And as soon as he opened the conversation to respond, he saw the heart again.
He’d spent quite a bit of time yesterday pondering what that meant. He’d even managed to hit his thumb with a hammer in front of his dad and his friend, which had been embarrassing as hell. But his mind wouldn’t leave it alone.
It was just an emoji, he kept telling himself. But Cait always ended their conversations with words or with the thumbs-up, so the heart was definitely a new development.
