Unintended

No wonder she’d called me a baby earlier. Probably, to her, I was. Thirty wasn’t old, but maybe it felt old compared to twenty-three.

“It’s okay,” I said, instantly relaxing when she stepped back. I thought for a second I saw tears in her eyes, but they were gone before I could tell for sure. “Do you… are you okay?” I hesitated mid-sentence because what the hell did I know about the kind of problems a twenty-nine-year-old woman had? As if I could even do anything to help. But she looked sad and I knew what it was like to feel alone. Something about her, even though she seemed like she had her life together, told me she was lonely.

“Oh, you don’t need to hear about that. You’d definitely re-think the idea of us going to another gig, and I’m pretty sure I’ve freaked you out enough for tonight.”

Her words made me laugh. “Why would you think you’ve freaked me out?”

“I don’t know. You just… you seem a little uncertain of me. Not that I blame you. I ruined your moment of calm reflection on the bridge and then invited you to my room. I’m probably not coming across well.”

I laughed again, probably the most real and relaxed laugh I’d let out in a long time. Her cheeks flushed and I felt my own doing the same. “You’re coming across fine. I ruined your moment of calm too. You were happily reading until I came along.”

“Actually, it was nice to have the company. So, thank you.”

“It was no problem.” I looked down at her card. It read: Evangeline West, and had her email address, phone number, Twitter handle, and Facebook page URL on it.

She smiled again. “That’s my phone number, or you can email or message through social media. I wrote my personal Twitter handle on the back of the card too. If you want to reach me. No pressure.”

She suddenly seemed more awkward than me and I nodded. “I’ll message you. Are you going to see Chaos In The Courtyard next month?”

“I don’t have tickets but I’d like to.”

“Okay. If you do get a ticket, we can meet there.”

Was that really wise?

I lay in bed in the dark, phone in hand, trying to read some more of my book before I fell asleep, but I couldn’t focus. I felt weird about giving Ash my details. Did he think I was flirting with him? I didn’t think I’d done anything to give that impression, but maybe he thought…

I growled into the empty room. This was why I was single. Because I couldn’t do anything without overthinking it. Without worrying over every word or action. Not that I’d tried that hard to date since my divorce, but every time I got near a man who might have been my type, I stressed myself over every little thing. My best friend, Keely, wisely pointed out a year ago that maybe I just wasn’t ready to move on yet. Could that still be true?

Maybe, since my ex and I had been together since we were teenagers, it might.

The truth was, Jay had been everything to me. I didn’t love him anymore though. I mean, I loved him with the kind of fondness most people hold for their first love. But knowing he was with someone new now didn’t hurt anymore. I was glad he’d moved away because I might have felt differently if I’d been forced to see them together, because when we first split, the thought of him with someone else had crippled me.

I blinked a few times and tried to put my focus back on my book, but after a couple of minutes, a Twitter notification came up on my screen.

ASH MCKAY is now following you

I guessed he didn’t think I was hitting on him then. He had a girlfriend, so he wouldn’t have followed me if he’d thought that.

Unless he was a cheat and thought I was up for it.

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

I said the words out loud because it was the only way to silence my racing thoughts. I tapped into Twitter to follow him back, and within a few minutes, he messaged me.

It was nice to meet you. I hope you’re feeling better now.

Oh, he doesn’t use text speak. Good lad.

I typed back: Thanks for checking on me. It’s not every day you make a new friend on a bridge in the freezing cold!

Ash: Lol, that’s true. Goodnight, Evie. (I have no idea how to spell your full name lol)

I chuckled.

It’s on the card :p It’s Evangeline. But Evie is good too lol. Sleep well

Ash: You too.