Page 71 of The Crush Next Door

"Matt Blaze standing right there." He nodded toward the dugout.

"Yes! Exactly that! I mean, was he just being nice to me? Or did he hate our podcast?"

Josh shrugged, then took a deep chug of his beer. "That's what I've been wondering. People say shit all the time though, especially in this city, and never follow through. So it could be that. But also, he is kind of busy. That's what I'm going with anyway."

That made me smile. Josh had this positivity that spread to anyone in his vicinity, and it was definitely something unique and rare, something that I admired greatly in him.

"All right. Yeah," I agreed. "Let's just say that's what it is. Maybe he forgot. Maybe he closed out the tab on his phone. Maybe he washed it in his pants."

Josh chuckled and turned to give me a look. "You think so?"

"Hey, I did that once. I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in forever, and she didn't have her phone on her, and my phone was dead. So she wrote her number on a piece of paper, and then I accidentally washed it in my pocket. And I forever feel terrible that she probably thinks I didn't want to call her."

"Ouch. That sucks."

"Right? And I don't know her last name to even look her up," I said as I grabbed more popcorn, folding the sides of the bag down for better access. "So maybe it's something like that. I hate to think of any other possibility."

Josh nodded. "Me too. So that's what we'll tell ourselves."

"Agreed."

And it was settled just like that. Fast. Efficient. No nonsense. I loved it.

"And what's the other thing?" Josh asked.

Sighing, I realized this was definitely the tougher one, not so easily dismissed. "It's Devon. He's been..."

"Been what?" Josh asked, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at me.

I had trouble meeting his gaze and fiddled some more with the bag. "He's been sort of distant. Not making the time to talk to me every day like we used to."

"Ah, I see." The game caught our attention for a second, and we both stared at the field. "I was wondering why I hadn't heard any good stories from your side of the wall lately."

Oh, God. I was never going to live that one down. "You're terrible."

"You know I'm joking." He took a handful of the kettle corn and ate it thoughtfully. "So what? Are you still nervous that he's going to run off with the wedding planner?"

"Yep. Exactly that."

"That seriously sucks." Josh munched away, clearly not as concerned as I was. "Why do you even have that worry in the first place, though? Don't you trust him?"

"I do. I definitely do," I said, almost like I was trying to convince myself.

Josh shot me a quick look like he didn't quite believe me.

"I really do. Really. He's given me no reason ever not to trust him. He's the kind of guy who doesn't check out other girls when he's with me. He doesn't talk about hot celebrity crushes. He doesn't do any of that crap. I've dated that guy before, and it's a quick reason to break up."

"Yeah. I agree. Like have a little respect for your girlfriend, dude."

"Exactly. And he's just always been crazy about me," I added, sighing wistfully as his romantic gestures from the past flashed through my head. "Maybe the honeymoon period is over. Before we're even married."

Josh gave me a sympathetic glance. "It happens. I've seen it myself and with my friends. You've got to have something to fall back on because that crazy, madly in love feeling from the beginning fades. And then what?"

I didn't give him an eye-roll, just felt my eyes bug out as I gave him a little nudge with my knee. "Thanks. That's very reassuring."

Holding on tightly to his sloshy beer, he nudged me back, making my beer spill a little onto my leg. Again. I already smelled like a brewery, so what was a bit more?

"Sorry." He laughed. "Just telling it like it is."

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