Kit (Chicago Blaze 8)
Me: How did you get her to agree to that?
Sara: We just clicked. I can see us being friends. Are you going to ask her out?
Me: She won’t go out with me until after she finishes the story.
Sara: That should be soon, right?
Me: You’d think, but she’s researching me like an FBI agent doing a criminal investigation.
Sara: Did you ask her if she’ll go out with you when she’s done?
Me: Not yet.
Sara: Ask her.
Me: Just landed, gtg.
* * *
I turn my phone off and close my eyes as the plane touches down. Should I ask Molly to go out after she finishes the story? I’m obviously very attracted to her, and I want more than the reporter-subject relationship we have now.
But can I be a traditional boyfriend to her? Can I be everything she needs in a man? She may not even want me to, but if she does, I’d never want to let her down. I can tell by her defensiveness that she’s been let down before.
I only tried to be a boyfriend to a woman once, and it was an epic failure. But Molly already told me that she’s not a one-night stand woman. It makes me like her and want her even more, but the thought of disappointing her makes me wonder if I should risk it.
“What’s up, man?” Easy asks me. “You look like shit.”
“You’re the only guy on the entire team who just asks me what’s up without commenting on my hair.”
“Well, I thought about asking you if the store ran out of your favorite scrunchies or something.”
“There it is.” I smile half-heartedly. “And no, my scrunchie supply is solid.”
“What, then? Your family’s good, right? Your brother’s okay?”
“Yeah.” I rub a hand down my face as the plane comes to a stop. “I was just thinking about Molly.”
“Molly?” He looks confused for a couple seconds, and then it clicks. “The reporter?”
I nod.
“We only talked to her for a little bit, but she seems cool.”
“Yeah, she’s…so uncool it’s cool, you know?”
“Nah.” Easy gives me a blank stare. “Don’t be all cryptic like a woman, just tell me what’s going on.”
“I like her.”
Awareness dawns in Easy’s expression. “Ah. And is she single?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“She doesn’t want to go out with me while she’s working on the story about me, and it’s driving me crazy. I hit on her the other night, and I shouldn’t have done it, but I did, and she shut me down.”
Easy shrugs. “Maybe she’s not into you.”
“I think she is, though.”
“So ask her to go out with you when she’s done with the story.”
I exhale hard. “I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“Sounds like you don’t have any other options.”
“You’re not helpful at all,” I growl, taking my phone back out of my pocket.
I text Molly.
Me: How much longer is the story going to take?
I see those three little dots bouncing on my screen, and I stare at them, anticipating her reply.
Molly: Hello to you, too.
Me: Hi, Molly. Do you know how much longer the story is going to take?
Molly: Not much longer.
Me: A week?
Molly: Depending on how our schedules line up for another interview or two, then with writing time, probably about two weeks. Why?
Me: Because I want to ask you out.
The three dots appear again, and I hold my breath as I wait, but then they disappear. No message.
“Answer,” I say to the empty screen.
“Kit.” Easy nudges me and I look up. Apparently it’s our turn to exit the airplane.
“Go ahead,” I say to the teammates behind us.
“Motherfucker,” Easy says under his breath.
I look back at my phone screen, willing Molly to respond. The three dots come back, and this time, there’s a message.
Molly: I’m not sure what to say. You want to ask me out, or you are asking me out?
Me: Both. Say yes.
Molly: I think we should discuss this after the story is done.
Easy exhales hard behind me as I type out a reply with my thumbs.
Me: It’s been a long time since I asked a woman for a date. A long fucking time. Years. If you don’t want to, say no. At least then I’ll know.
The three little dots reappear and I wait for what feels like forever.
Molly: I do want to.
A sigh of relief pours from my chest.
“Can we go now?” Easy asks, reading over my shoulder.
Shaking my head, I write another message to Molly.
Me: That’s all I needed to hear. We can work out the rest later. And I won’t bring it up again until the story is done.
Molly: Okay.
Jonah waits for me and Easy to step out of our row, and I grab my bag from the overhead bin, thinking about Molly. She wants to go out with me. And I really want to go out with her.
I don’t know if I can be enough for her. What she deserves. But I don’t have to think about it to know I can’t just walk away without even trying. It’s not about wanting to fuck her. There’s so much more I want from her.