Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,19
to be happy, Katy. You deserve to find love, more than any person I know. I try to understand, but sometimes it’s really hard trying to be strong for you all the time. Sometimes, I need you to be there for me.”
“Rollo,” I sobbed. “I’m such a horrible best friend.”
Then I surprised both of us by practically tackling him to the ground in a hug.
I pulled away and looked at him. “Everything you said was completely true. I’m so sorry,” I sobbed.
He held his arms out and I buried myself against his pudgy body.
“This is progress, Katy,” he said. “I love ya, baby cakes.”
“I know you’ve been saying the same things to me for a while now, but I think I’m finally ready to listen. You’re right. I deserve to be happy. It’s going to take time for me to heal, but I’m going to try.”
Rollo pulled me out of his arms and held my face in his hands. “I know you can do it, Katy. I know you can get over this. Find your spark again.”
“Find my spark,” I whispered.
Rollo grinned. “And you can start by being nice to Jared.”
10
BE NICE TO JARED.
Ha!
Forget, ‘be nice to Jared’, I think I needed to focus on not making a fool of myself.
Jared always seemed to be able to leave me completely speechless and looking like an idiot.
Rollo and I were getting ready to leave Fight For It, when Jared came running out of his workout room.
“Katy, wait up,” he said, his chest rising and falling with each breath. He had a white towel around his neck and he used that to wipe his sweat drenched face.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” I told Rollo and tossed him my car keys.
Rollo grinned before going out the door.
“What’s up?” I asked Jared.
He chuckled breathlessly. “I was hoping you would be free Friday night.”
“Oh-um-yeah-” my words strung together. “I’m free.”
He smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Good. I doubt you’re going to tell me where you live, because you’re obviously the closed off type. Am I right?”
I blushed.
“Ah, your cheeks don’t lie,” he pointed to my face. “Meet me here around five o’ clock?”
“Five works for me,” I fidgeted nervously. “But you can just tell me where to go and I’ll meet you there.”
Jared threw his head back and laughed. “Nice try, kittycat, but I’m not telling you where we’re going.”
“I don’t know if I like not knowing,” I whispered, afraid to say the words out loud. I hated sounding like a scaredy cat.
Jared’s face softened and he reached out like he wanted to caress my cheek but dropped his hand to his side instead.
“Katy, I promise you, I’ll never hurt you or put you in a position of danger. I know I need to earn your trust, but this one time, I’m asking you to trust me anyway.”
I took a deep breath.
It’s all about moving on and letting go, I told myself.
“Okay,” I finally answered him.
“Okay?”
“Yeah,” I took another deep breath. “Just this once, I’ll trust you anyway.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Katy-”
“Dude! Get your ass in here!” someone yelled from the training room Jared worked out in.
Jared gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry about him,” he tossed his thumb over his shoulder. “I better get back in there.”
“Not a problem,” I turned to head out the door.
“Katy,” he said and I turned back to face him. “I’m really looking forward to Friday.”
“Me too,” I answered automatically, and surprisingly, it wasn’t even a lie.
Jared grinned from ear to ear. “Good.”
“Jaaaaared!” The voice yelled again.
“Bye, Katy,” Jared said and disappeared into the room.
“Bye, Jared,” I whispered to the now empty space.
~***~
Oh my God, I was going on a date with Jared.
I had completely gone and lost my mind.
I didn’t even know his last name!
Oh gosh, I could feel a panic attack coming on.
I sat down on my bed and took a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out.
Okay, that was better.
Just a little.
Not really.
Calming thoughts, Katy, just think calming thoughts, I told myself. Besides, it’s not really a date. We’re just… going out. There’s a difference. A big difference. There are no preconceived notions about kissing and other stuff if you’re just ‘going out’. A date implies something more.
Oh, who was I kidding, there was no way I could calm down until this night was over.
I grabbed my cellphone off my nightstand and called Rollo and then Piper.
Thirty minutes later there was a knock on my door.