Devon
She wants me. She wants me not.
The mantra went around and around in his head as Devon attacked the punching bag. Sweat dripped everywhere, but he wasn’t ready to stop yet.
She left you on read. Maybe that was too many cat memes, even for her?
More jabs at the bag as the new set of repetitive statements made a nice little home in his brain. He had thought she would appreciate the memes. One for every time he had ignored the ones she had sent him months before. Maybe he should have spread them out?
Yeah, you really didn’t think that through logically. So unlike you.
He gave the bag one last punch before just deciding he’d had enough working out for the night. His mind was not going to be put at ease. He could just call her instead of trying to, once again, analyse the situation to death.
He took off the boxing gloves and placed them on the table so he could take a swig from his water bottle. His mind might be racing, but he hoped this would at least make his body tired enough to get some good rest tonight. Maybe he would be too tired to dream about Reba again.
He blew out a breath, swiping his arm across his face. He needed to shower after he cooled off a bit. He checked his phone again. Nothing. For the millionth time since Sunday, he wondered if she had even found his note.
It had been a weird impulsive move to scribble the words and tuck it into her bag, hoping it would be a nice surprise. She had said she’d never gotten any letters like that, so he had wanted her to experience it. Perhaps she didn’t understand his words? She had to know it was from him.
The doorbell going off startled him. He didn’t usually get visitors at 7 p.m. on a work night. His mother and siblings knew better than to just show up when chances that he could still be at work would be high.
With the Sanctuary presentation over with, there were several more projects in various stages to focus on. This time he had needed to work off some steam, so he’d come home at a reasonable hour.
He opened the door, more than surprised to see Reba standing there.
“Hi.” Her eyes travelled down the front of his soaked t-shirt and shorts. “Did I interrupt?”
“No. I was done. Come in.” He stepped aside to let her pass. “I was just thinking about you, actually. Wondering if I overloaded you with cat memes.”
“Well, the memes were a lot, but I saved them all.” She flicked her orange nails at the ends of her hair that brushed her chin.
“Your hair’s different, again.”
“Oh, yeah. I took out the extensions. This is my actual length. I need to touch up the pink, though; these roots are out of control.”
As much as he was intrigued by this new look, he was more interested in why she had shown up. She sat on the couch, legs crossed, waiting for him to do the same.
“Can I take a quick shower, then we can talk about why you’re here?” He didn’t usually sit on his furniture when sweaty.
Reba took her time to slide her gaze down his chest, sucking in her bottom lip then releasing it. “As much as I’m enjoying the workout aftermath of that t-shirt clinging to your chest, do what you gotta do.”
So flirty Reba was back. He couldn’t tell if that was good or not. Whether she was using it as a diversion tactic or it was genuine.
You’re trying not to overthink everything, remember?
He pulled himself away from that stare, taking the steps two at a time. His shower was quick. Tossing on another t-shirt and shorts after he towelled off, he forced himself not to create scenarios of how he thought this was going to go. He couldn’t possibly guess what was going on in Reba’s head.
She was taking a selfie when he came back downstairs. She looked up at him. “Do you want to take one with me?”
He sat next to her. “Is this some kind of test?”
“Maybe I’d just like to see how your face looks next to my face.”
“I think that we already know we look good together. That was never in question.”
“Okay, fine, maybe I did want to see how you’d react. You say you want to be with me?” She pointed to the photo on her phone. “This is who I am. I love selfies. Love social media. I love sharing parts of my life with people that follow me on there. Not every part, obviously, but you get my point. I’m a social person.”
“Are you saying to be in a relationship with you, selfies are mandatory?”