Matchplay A New Adult Romance - By Dakota Madison Page 0,58

I would probably spend the rest of the night crying. I felt a little bit of comfort having Josh with me. It lessened the intense pain, even if it was just a little.

Josh slid to the top of my bed so his back was against the wall and he patted the space next to him, so I slid up next to him. “You can rest your head on my shoulder,” he said.

I hesitated. I was still raw with emotion and I wasn’t sure I was making good decisions as far as Josh was concerned. But I knew he was a nice guy and would never do anything inappropriate.

I was starting to feel very tired, so I rested my head on his shoulder.

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up Josh had his head resting on mine and he was snoring quietly. I moved slightly and he stirred. I think he was just as surprised as I was that we had fallen asleep.

He rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was even tired.”

“It’s okay. I guess we both needed some rest.”

I stretched a bit and so did Josh. Then our eyes met and Josh looked at me with so much tenderness, it tugged on my heartstrings a bit. The energy between us seemed to shift slightly and I thought Josh might try to kiss me.

“I’m still in love with Aaron,” I blurted.

A look of embarrassment seemed to sweep over Josh’s face. “I know. Of course, you’re not ready for a relationship with anyone else.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I didn’t think I’d ever want a relationship with anyone but Aaron. “I could really use a friend right now.” I ventured.

Josh smiled. “Friends it is then.”

Josh looked puzzled about something, so I asked him what was bothering him.

“This may sound like a stupid question but why are you wearing a sunshine pendent? It seems a bit strange because your name is Rainy. Shouldn’t you be wearing a cloud with raindrops or something?”

The pendent Aaron had given me on our trip had become such a part of me, I had forgotten I had it on.

To anyone but Aaron, it would have seemed a strange memento to wear. Since I didn’t know exactly where my relationship with Aaron stood, or if we even still had a relationship, I removed the pendent and carefully placed it in my dresser drawer.

***

I received an email from Dr. Griffin detailing requirements of the research internship. She wanted me to make a commitment to work on the book with her until I graduated, if it took that long, and I was happy to do it. I felt honored that she thought so highly of me. She even said that if the quality of my work was outstanding and my contribution was significant enough, she would consider making me a cowriter. That was all it took for me to immerse myself in the project. It seemed like all I had was free time anyway.

Despite the fact that I had texted Aaron several times, he never texted me back. I debated phoning him but then felt like I should give him time if that’s what he wanted and needed.

I also didn’t see much of Olivia and Lucas. Olivia spent all of her free time with Marney and Lucas had immersed himself in his internship. I felt sad that I didn’t get to see my friends very much but I was also happy for them because they both seemed so content.

What little free time I had, I spent with Josh. Aaron had stopped walking me to class after the first week, so Josh and I got into the habit of meeting after my morning classes and going to lunch afterwards.

Josh didn’t know much about art but seemed interested, so I told him all about my favorite artists. He told me about wanting to own his own engineering firm and it was nice to see the excitement in his eyes when he talked about his plans.

I had been hanging out with Josh for about a month when he took me to the small Chinese restaurant off campus that Aaron first introduced me to. It was the first time Josh and I had gone to dinner off campus together and in some ways it felt like a date. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because I still thought of Aaron nearly every moment of every day. I never led Josh on or told him