Had fun last night. See you tonight, roomie. Want to watch a movie?
I smiled. Last night had been fun. It wasn’t what I had hoped for, but Preston decided not to come over when he realized it was going to be a girls’ night.
Definitely
I was glad that Greer wanted to try to bring us back together. It wasn’t her fault things had become foreign between us. I had ignored our friendship as much as she had. I was lost in some kind of Vaughn spell. I had to learn how to balance our relationship in my life. It was too easy to be consumed by him.
I paid for my salad and walked across campus, pulling my coat tighter to my chest. I decided to eat lunch at my desk while Jessie took her full hour break.
I poured a drizzle of dressing over the kale leaves when my phone vibrated again.
I wanted it to be Vaughn. I sighed when I saw the text was from my mother.
Are you coming home for Thanksgiving?
It seemed like the kind of conversation we needed to have over the phone. It was the most time off I had since I started at American.
Can I bring someone?
I waited for my mother’s response. I hadn’t talked to Vaughn about the holidays, but Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away. Of course it was entirely possible he had plans with his family. But there was a part of me that wanted to take him home to New Bern with me.
Even if my family was crazy and unstable. They were still my family. And I wanted them to meet him.
Greer?
I groaned. This was why texting wasn’t the best option. But it might be hard to get off the phone with my mom. I didn’t want to spend my lunch break detailing my relationship.
No. My boyfriend. I’ll call you tonight when I’m not at work.
Boyfriend? Who? What’s his name?
I typed out my last reply.
His name is Vaughn. I’ll call you later.
I shoved my phone in my purse so I could ignore more messages. To be fair, my mother didn’t meddle in my relationships. She was too engrossed in Garret’s problems to focus on mine.
That should be a compliment. I was the kid who had everything together. The one she didn’t have to worry about. She trusted me not to date an alcoholic or an unemployed tattoo artist. But it didn’t mean I didn’t want her approval.
And for the first time in a long time I had someone in my life I was proud of. I wanted to take him home and show him off. There wasn’t anyone like him in New Bern. Polished and sophisticated, yet rough and masculine. No one had come close to capturing my senses like he did. He had managed to crumble all of the walls I had. Broken through my resistance. And there was a reason for it—he was incredible.
“This a bad time?” Jessie joked.
I looked up from my fork. I hadn’t taken a single bite.
“No. Just thinking,” I answered. I had intended to read through notes on Lana’s case.
“It looked serious.”
“Trying to figure out the holidays with my family. That’s all,” I explained.
“Ahh. I think I’m staying here.”
“Really? Do you have family in D.C.?” I asked.
“Nah.” She shrugged. “It’s just not worth going home for a few days when I’m going to be back at Christmas. A lot of the students are getting together for a Friendsgiving thing.”
“Oh. I hadn’t heard.”