My agent, Seth Rodgers, messaged me back right away saying we would talk tomorrow with my publicist on the line too. I hoped nothing came of this with Daniel. I probably shouldn’t have hired him when I came back to the States. But we’d been close at one point, and he’d always reach out when I had an injury to check on me. He needed a job, and I needed a new trainer. Now I was regretting that decision.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a message from Mallory.
Mallory: Call me when you have a chance.
I looked over at Malik. “What’d you do?”
“I told Stace that you were worried about Mallory, and she said she’d see what she could do. Is that Stace messaging you?”
“No, it’s Rory. She wants me to call her.”
“It’s cold out here anyway and getting late. I need to start winding down,” Malik said.
“Why won’t you get some space heaters or something for out here?”
“Don’t start with that shit again, Z. And don’t even think about using your money to have some professionally installed. I’ll get around to it.”
I shook my head and followed him inside the house. I went to my bedroom, and after I kicked off my shoes, I fell onto my bed. I hovered over the call button for a few moments before finally making the call.
“Hey,” she said when she answered after the second ring.
“Hey,” I said. “How’re you doing?”
“I’m fine, Zeke. My wrist is a little sore but nothing I can’t handle.”
“I’m sorry he did that, Mallory. I should have made it clear he wasn’t invited. I didn’t think he’d pull crap like that.”
“It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to apologize for his fuck-up. He’s your friend; why wouldn’t you have him at your party?”
“Daniel told me he apologized to you about how things went down in high school at that party. I didn’t know you even held a grudge against him still until we saw you at the coffee shop.”
“My eyes are rolling so hard right now,” Mallory said, and I chuckled. “He made sure to make my life a living hell for the rest of sophomore year. He’s a dick, and I can’t stand him for what he put me through. No amount of apologizing would have made me forgive him.”
That was news to me. As I told my cousin, I didn’t hang out with Daniel for the rest of that year. I saw him in class, at lunch, and on the court when we played or practiced. I stopped hanging out with him in the hall between classes, so I wouldn’t have seen what he was doing.
“You seemed fine with him when we went back to school.”
“If by fine you mean I ignored his existence, then I guess I was cool with him.”
I shook my head. “I’m still sorry for what happened.”
“Thank you for saying that even though it’s not necessary. And thanks for standing up for me this time,” she said. “I’m tired so I need to go.”
I thought about telling her that I stood up for her back then too but decided not to.
“Goodnight, Rory.”
“Night, Zeke.”
I dropped my phone on the bed beside me. I needed a shower and needed to get my ass in bed since I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning and then physical therapy, followed by a light training session at the college. I guess I was going to have to find another trainer now.
I groaned and pulled myself off the bed. I could deal with all that tomorrow. Right now, the shower and promise of hot water on my tensed muscles was calling my name. I grabbed some shorts and headed across the hall to the bathroom.
16
Mallory
I stared at the TV on one of the morning sports shows, not paying an ounce of attention to what they were debating. My mind was still on this past weekend and everything that happened between me, Daniel, and Zeke. I hadn’t seen or talked to Zeke since we spoke on the phone Sunday night. I’d been feeling off all week. The past and present were intersecting and throwing me completely off my game. Daniel was a prick, and I couldn’t stand his guts. For him to have lied to Zeke, telling him he’d apologized for what went down all those years ago, was low. Now I understood why Zeke looked shocked at my hostility towards Daniel that first day.
It wasn’t enough that he’d humiliated me in front of our classmates, he also harassed me for the rest of my sophomore year. He wouldn’t let me move past what he’d done, because he was either begging me to give him another chance or berating me because I wouldn’t. He said some nasty things that I wasn’t going to repeat, and I’d never told anyone about it. I didn’t need Adam ending up in jail for killing him. Jocelyn would have tried to fuck him up too, and when I got older and met Stacey, I didn’t see the reason for telling her about it. It embarrassed me that I had to deal with bullying even though I knew I shouldn't be. I wanted to move on once it stopped. And it did the following school year. He forgot about me, and I was grateful for that.
While I’d thought about the encounter between me and Daniel, I’d thought about his words nonstop since Sunday. “You know he liked you in high school?” Of course, I didn’t know, and I didn’t even know if I should believe it. Daniel was probably just trying to get under my skin. Worm his way into my thoughts so that he was once again taking up space rent-free in my head. But I must admit that I’d picked up my phone a few times to text Zeke and ask him if it were true. I fell over on the couch and buried my face in the pillow, groaning loudly.
Just because Zeke stood up for me didn’t mean I was going to start having feelings for him or that it forgave our past. The little flutters in my belly when I saw him or was verbally sparring with him didn’t matter. There wasn’t a romance blooming between us. Zeke had shown that he wasn’t reliable, and when something better came along, he’d leave me behind again. I couldn’t let my defenses down and continue letting him in. But it was so freaking hard too. Why did he have to be so damn sexy? That smile that showed that dimple in his left cheek was enough to make my knees week. The twinkle he got in those gorgeous brown eyes when I said something snarky or funny caused cracks in the armor around my heart. Add in his chivalrous act this weekend and a hard body that begged me to run my hands over it, and I was walking a dangerous line. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to start having feelings for my ex-best friend.
My phone chimed and I picked it up, unlocking it so I could see the notification. It was a voice message from Valerie. I popped one of my earbuds in and played the message.
“I hope you’re doing well, Rory. As I’ve said before, I loved the first few chapters you sent of Imagine Us, and I would love to read more. When do you think you’ll send me chapters 8-11? Remember I’m here to help you with anything you need.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, letting out a hard breath. I didn’t know what to tell her. I didn’t have those chapters, and I didn’t know when I would. I’d decided to stay home today so I could focus on writing. I wanted to write one chapter to jumpstart my mojo, so to speak. I’d accomplished editing three chapters of my current freelance job and closed out of Imagine Us a few hours ago. Something I hadn’t admitted to anyone was that the concept of these characters came when I was feeling reminiscent about Zeke. Over the years it’d hit me —missing him—and I would start reminiscing about the time we had. I also wondered if we would've stayed friends even as we got older. When I started the story, it was based on me and Zeke, and it was a romance because it had to be one. No one wanted to read a story about a woman and man who were just friends. I’d cycled through tropes, as well as trying out different love interests. But I couldn’t move the characters’ romance with each other forward, and no one else felt right for either of them.
But it felt like I needed to write this story. I thought that if I could write about our friendship and falling out, I could get over losing my best friend once and for all. And because this was my story, I felt like it had no choice but to do well and be the one that helped my career the most. Five books into my writing career and I was just breaking
even. I wanted more out of my career, and this book could be the one to do it.
I pressed the microphone icon to record a message for Valerie. “I’m not sure about this project. I’m considering putting it on the backburner because words aren’t easy to come by with this one.”
I released the icon to send the voice message. I could see that she’d seen it right away. When my phone started ringing with her picture on the screen, I wasn’t surprised.
“Hi, Val,” I said when I answered.
“Hey, Ror,” she said. “What’s your hang-up with this book?”
She didn’t waste time with small talk, going right in on the problem.
“I’m not connecting with the characters and their struggle or love story. These characters have a history, but the chemistry isn’t there.”
“Could they have different love interests?” she asked. “They could be friends who don’t fall in love. And that gives you a duet or two books to start a new series.”
“I’ve tried before. No other love interests work for them. They’re supposed to end up together, but I don’t believe in them, so it makes it hard to write. I mean, if I don’t believe, then what’s to make the reader feel a damn thing for either of them?”
Valerie was quiet for a moment. Maybe it was time to drop this story and characters for good. It was getting me nowhere, and I needed to start writing something that I was going to publish. As of right now, I didn’t have any books ready to publish in the spring. Consistency is important as an author, and I took that to heart when I kept hearing it over and over, so I published one book per season. Well, for three of them anyway. I spent my winters writing and preparing to release in the spring.
“I don’t think you should give up quite yet,” Valerie finally responded. “Even though you’re struggling, something is compelling you to come back to this book. Something is making these characters the ones that constantly bug you, and that’s not going to go away until you give them their story.”
She had a point. Imagine Us was never far from my thoughts, even as I was publishing other books.
“Give it a few more weeks to see if something clicks for you. I loved the first few chapters you sent, Ror, and I think it’s going somewhere.”
“I guess I can do that. Now I think the stress of not having something ready to publish in the spring is starting to get to me.”
“I don’t believe that you don’t have anything that you could publish,” she said.
I chuckled. “Well, maybe, but it’d be a short standalone I wrote a few years ago. I should be getting the rights back for a short story of mine that was included in a charity anthology. I guess I could flesh that out and re-publish it.”
“See? You can work on editing those stories and continue writing Imagine Us. Even if you don’t publish it until the fall or later. If you want to do some writing sprints or video chats, let me know. I’m here to help you any way I can.”
“Thanks, Val. I’ll try to write just one scene today and build off that.”
She agreed that was a promising idea, and then I heard her kid talking in the background before she told me she had to go.
“Send whatever you write my way when you’re finished,” she instructed.
“Will do. Bye,” I said.
I saw a message from the dating app as soon as the call ended. It’d been buzzing when I was talking to Valerie. His name made me a little queasy and guilt was the reason why. But it shouldn’t. I wasn’t doing anything to feel guilty about. Zeke and I weren’t dating, and I didn’t want to date him, so I could talk to Coby. He was my friend. When did my non-existent love life become so complicated?
I ignored Coby’s message, opting to turn on a feature on my phone to lock my social media apps so they didn’t distract me. I decided to do some writing exercises to help me get to know my characters better and my story too. It beat not getting anything writing-related done today. I’d start going through one of my stories tomorrow and figure out what it needed so I could publish it in a few months.
Stacey: We’re going out with Zeke and Malik tonight.
Me: Didn’t we just see them on Sunday?
Stacey: And your point for saying that?
Me: I thought it was pretty obvious. I don’t want to go out tonight. And you could have asked, instead of telling me what I’m going to do.
Stacey: I could, but since I’m dragging your ass along no matter what, I don’t see the point. So, stop whining and make sure you’re ready to meet us in Burlington at seven.
Me: Sometimes you’re too damn bossy.
Stacey: It’s my best quality.
Me: I think it’s your worst, but tomato-tomahto.
She only sent a middle-finger emoji, and I chuckled to myself. I told her to send me the name of the restaurant. I had some time before I had to get ready, so I decided to keep working. I was getting some words down, and this was more fun than writing. I was fleshing out my characters’ backstory which would help me when I started drafting the story again. I turned my music back on, refocusing on what I was doing.
By five-thirty, I was done for the day and went to take a shower. It was a quick one so that I had plenty of time to get ready. I wanted to look nice tonight, even though I shouldn’t care what Zeke thought about me. But I would be lying if I said there hadn’t been a slight shift in the dynamic of our relationship. He should have stood up for me years ago when his friend was being an ass, but he hadn’t. That was what had solidified my dislike for him and my decision not to be friends with him ever again.
Now he was back in my life, causing me to think about everything that went down with us when we were teens and what that meant for us now. It shouldn’t have meant anything, but it did. I didn’t want to admit that even to myself. No matter how much I tried to deny it, there was something between us. That thought both filled me with excitement and dread. I let out a harsh breath. If it weren’t for Stacey, I would back out of this outing with Zeke. Even though I hadn’t seen him in four days, I still wasn’t ready to face him again.
Right now, all I had to do was figure out what I was wearing to dinner. My attention went to my closet. This was a much easier thing to think about. I wasn’t going to figure out my feelings when it came to Zeke tonight anyway. I may as well get dressed and focus on that for the time being.
I put the car in park just as my phone started ringing through the speakers in my car since it was connected to Bluetooth. It was Stacey.
“Hey. You here?” I asked.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, and my stomach tightened in anticipation of what she was going to say next. “I’m held up at work and don’t think I’ll make it.”
“Do you think it’ll take that long?”
“I do, but you go inside and enjoy yourself. I know how much you like that place.”
I pursed my lips. “Fine. I’ve already driven all the way here, after all.”
“Exactly. Have fun.”
She hung up, and I stuffed my phone back in my oversized, slouchy purse. I climbed out once I’d turned off the car and headed for the front doors of the restaurant. It sucked that Stacey couldn’t be here, but hanging out with Zeke and Malik wouldn’t be too bad. There would still be someone else there with me and Zeke.
The hostess greeted me when I walked inside, and I gave her the name of who I was meeting. She grabbed a menu and guided me to a table along one side of the room, near the back and beside a window. The first thing I noticed was that the table only seated two. And the second thing I noticed was that only one person was sitting at the table. Great.
17
Zeke
“Where’s Malik?”
My eyes moved down Mallory’s body. It was amazing how sexy she was, and she knew how to showcase that without being too in your face about it. Tonight, she was wearing ripped black jeans with a leather jacket that stopped at her waist and black boots. Her hair was half up and half down, and she had on subtle makeup that enhanced her beauty instead o
f detracting from it.
Mallory cleared her throat, and I brought my eyes back up to hers. One of her dark brows rose, and it took me a moment before I remembered she’d asked me a question. I stood and held out her chair for her. Mallory’s mahogany eyes narrowed, but I waited for her to sit down. She let out a frustrated sigh before taking her seat. I reclaimed mine across from her as she shrugged out of her leather jacket. She had on a long-sleeved blush-pink shirt under it.
“He couldn’t make it,” I finally answered.
My cousin was never supposed to meet us for a double date and knew nothing about my plans tonight. He had his own date with Stacey tonight. I recruited Stacey for help when I got back home on Tuesday. With some brainstorming and being caught up in the past, I figured out the perfect first date for the two of us. I had Stacey tell Mallory that it was another double date because I wasn’t sure she would’ve agreed if I’d straight up asked her out tonight.
“Oh, really?” she asked. “It seems kind of convenient that Malik couldn’t make it, and Stacey was held up at work.”
I flashed her a smile. “It does, doesn’t it?”
The waiter came over to take her drink order. Once he was gone, Mallory spoke again. “I was a little surprised not to see you everywhere I was this week,” she said.
“Miss me?” I teased.
Her pretty eyes rolled, but a smile played at the corner of her full lips. “Not really, but I wondered about it.”
“I flew to New York on Monday to meet with my agent, publisher, and lawyer. I wanted to cover my bases. I haven’t heard from Daniel since Sunday but giving him that job was a whim. My agent told me not to do it, but we had a history.”
Doubletalk (The Busy Bean) Page 11