“Don’t go,” I say, reaching out to cover her phone with my hand. “Or…at least give me two minutes.”
Her eyes hit mine, and there is a look of finality in them that makes my stomach twist. “Definitely not. I need to go.”
Wow. I must have really butchered that conversation more than I realized.
I feel a little desperate. I tried to play it cool earlier, and clearly that didn’t work, so now it’s time to let it all hang out. “Evie, I know I made it seem like I couldn’t care less about this relationship, but here’s the truth: I really like you. I like you so much that it scares me. The last woman I cared for left me high and dry after nine years of marriage. I’m still a little banged up and scarred. I want to have a relationship with you because I think you’re incredible, and gorgeous, and smart, and…” She looks so shocked right now that I’m scared I’m coming off a little stalkerish, but I keep going because I’ve opened the gates and the truth is all flooding out. “…way too good for me. But I have a lot of baggage, and honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you want to split right now. I’ve been playing it cool, but I’m scared of putting myself out there to have something real again. That’s why I’m not ready for anything serious. I don’t want to punish you by making you turn down other dates when I’m not ready for anything—”
“Jake!” Evie cuts off my long-winded monologue with a small chuckle. I don’t really know what’s funny about what I just said—laying my heart out on the line like that and all—but she chuckles, nonetheless. “You didn’t have to say any of that.” She shrugs and shakes her head. “I’m not leaving because I was mad or offended. I’m leaving because I just started my period early, and I don’t have any tampons with me.”
What? Her statement sinks in, and I feel my shoulders relax. “You started your period?”
She looks embarrassed as she nods, a tense smile on her mouth.
I stare, blinking at Evie and trying to wrap my mind around this new turn of events. Evie is not upset. She never was. I didn’t have to pour my heart out to her. She was fine with casual.
She clears her throat and folds her arms. “So, can I call an Uber now? Since…ya know, I still don’t have any tampons with me?”
“Oh.” I snap back to life and take her phone out of her hands and toss it onto the couch. “No.”
She sighs. “I don’t think you fully understand my predicament.”
I grab her hand, dragging her toward the guest bathroom. Once inside, I open the linen closet, revealing three shelves fully stocked with every kind of maxi pad and tampon known to man—or woman. I wave my hand over the selection like I’m Vanna White.
“Ta-da,” I say and then feel really stupid. Is it weird to be proud of your selection of feminine hygiene products?
Her mouth falls open. “Why do you have a closet full of pads and tampons?”
“My sisters are never prepared, and I got sick of making tampon runs when they would come over to hang out or watch Sam. I decided to just stock my house. And it’ll come in handy when Sam…well, you know.”
She laughs and stares at the closet. “I’ve never been so jealous of anything in my life. I’m so cheap that I always buy the smallest boxes possible like I might not get a period next month.” She pauses and looks at me hesitantly. “Was that TMI?”
I laugh. “Evie, I have four sisters, a mother, a ten-year-old daughter, and I was married for nine years. I’m very aware that you have a period, and I’m not at all embarrassed by it. You shouldn’t be either.”
She quirks a brow at me. “Are you about to give me a speech on feminism and how I should be proud of my womanly body and its functions?”
I let my gaze travel the length of her, and when my eyes meet hers again, I say, “You definitely should be proud of your body.”
She shoves my chest with a guttural laugh. “If anyone but you said that to me, I would show him the new skills I’ve learned in my self-defense class.”
“So, what you’re saying is, I can deliver a line better than any other man in the world?”
“Okay, get out.”
I agree, but not before leaning down to kiss her rosy cheek. “We’re good?”
She smiles, brushes her wavy hair behind her ear, and I swear she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “We’re great. But we’re going to have a whole different problem soon if you don’t get out of here and let me steal one of these tampons.”
I lean in a little closer and drop my voice to whisper seductively against her ear. “If you’re lucky…I’ll even let you take home a whole box.”
She pretends to shiver. “I thought you didn’t want to be my sugar daddy?”
“I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Evie Jones.” I said that in a serious tone because I am serious. In that moment where I thought she was going to walk out my door and out of my life, I was ready to throw all my fears out the window and tell her I’ll do serious. I would have made a Facebook profile just so I could change my status to In A Relationship to make her happy.
Her dark-green eyes lock with mine, and she raises up on her tiptoes to lay the softest, most alluring kiss on my mouth. It's not nearly long enough. “And I’m happy to take things slow for you, Jake. I’m glad you were honest with me.”
And this, people, is what a healthy relationship looks like. And yeah…I’m feeling hopeful about a woman for the first time in a year. The question is, how long will it last?
Chapter Twenty-Four
EVIE
It’s 9:30 PM and Jake and I have moved outside to swing on his back porch. The night is warm, and the stars are bright against the black backdrop of the sky. We leave the porch lights off and decide to swing with the moon as our only light. It’s romantic and quiet and still.
When we sit down on the swing, Jake reaches over and pulls me closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I’ve learned that he’s an affectionate man, and I still can’t believe I get to know that about him. I also like his deodorant. I briefly wonder if I could get away with using some before I leave without him noticing. That’s creepy, right? Yeah, let’s forget I considered it.
Jake picks up his phone again and checks the screen. He’s had that thing glued to him all night, and if I didn’t know the real reason he was checking it so much, I’d be worried he was waiting for a booty call from another woman. But I don’t say anything about it because I know that he’s just worried about Sam.
It strikes me how different this first date is from all of the others I’ve been on. Not only have we already made out in the kitchen and discussed my menstrual cycle, but usually on a first date, I would maybe be holding his hand with about twelve inches still neatly placed between the sides of our thighs (make room for the Holy Spirit as Grandmama used to say). But as it is, Jake has me tucked in so close to his side that I’m pretty much sitting on his lap. (Sorry, Grandmama.)
I feel like a little bunny rabbit, so I nestle in a little closer to his stupidly defined side and sigh with contentment inside my burrow.