THE ONE WHO NOTICED

SIX

I stare at the screen, my heart pounding so hard I can hear it. I read it again. And again.

What am I supposed to say to that?

My fingers start moving before I can stop them.

I don't understand you. What could you possibly see that's special? I'm literally just a mess. You're gonna be real disappointed when you realize I'm just as boring and messed up as I seem.

I hit send and immediately regret it. That was too much. Too honest. Too pathetic. But before I can spiral completely, I type again.

I don't know how to do this. I'm not good at letting people in. But I guess you can try. What do you wanna know?

Send.

And now I wait

My phone beeps , and I grab it so fast.

First off, thank you for being honest I know That took guts. Second, I'm not easily disappointed, and I meant what I said—I wanna know the real you, mess and all. But let's start slow. I wanna take my time with you.

I read it three times. He wants to take his time? With me?

Okay. So whatcha wanna know?

Let's start easy. What kind of music are you into?

Mostly anything that catches my ear. So alittle of everything.what about you

Little bit of rock , country I can do some hip hop and rap I like some oldies too so I can say the same alittle of whatever catches my eas . I saw that AC/DC shirt you had on the other day—looked good on you.

My face heats up. He noticed what I was wearing?

Thanks I guess. What about movies?

The conversation flows easier than I expected. We go back and forth—favorite foods (him: all meat and healthy me: anything I don't have to cook), late night habits (him: working on his Jeep or friends or work, me: sitting on my front step watching tv , random stuff that doesn't feel heavy.

Then around midnight, he asks:

You got family around here?

I hesitate.

Yeah. It's complicated though. We don't really talk much.

I get that. My family's... a lot. Love them, but sometimes distance is good.

What do you do for work anyway?

Alittle bit of everything but I make good money so I'm always busy.

I feel like he's some what avoiding that topic so I just move on to me

I'm just stuck at the liquor store til I figure out what I actually wanna do with my life.

Nothing wrong with that. You're young. You got time.

I'm 28 Feels like I should have it figured out by now.

I'm 31 and still figuring s**t out. Nobody's got it all together, Kasin.

Something about the way he says my name, even in text, makes my chest feel weird.

Can I ask you something? I type before I lose the nerve.

Anything.

Have you dated recently?

There's a pause. The three dots appear and disappear twice.

Not in over a year. Been focused on work, honestly. Dated someone for a while but it didn't work out. She wanted different things. What about you?

My last relationship was a disaster. And didnt do none but made me feel like s**t about myself, and I stayed way longer than I should've. Been single since then. About 2 years now

He's an i***t. And I'm sorry you went through that.

It's whatever. I'm over it.

Are you though?

I stare at the question. Am I?

I don't know. I think it just messed me up more than I realized.

That's fair. But you know that wasn't about you, right? That's on him.

I don't respond right away. I want to believe that, but it's hard.

You still there? he texts.

Yeah. Just thinking.

Good. I like when you're honest with me.

We keep talking until almost 3 am. About nothing and everything. And for the first time in months, I don't feel completely alone.

You gotta work tomorrow? he asks.

Yeah, 12 to 8.

Get some sleep, Kasin. I'll text you in the morning.

Okay. Night, Jayden.

Goodnight, gorgeous.

I wake up to my alarm going off at 9 and reach for my phone to shut it off. That's when I see the notification.

Good morning beautiful. Really glad you finally caved and let me have your number. I enjoyed every minute last night talking to you. Maybe today you'll let me call you and hear your voice, but I'll see you before you get off work tonight. Text me when you wake up.

Sent at 7 am. He only got four hours of sleep and he's already texting me like this?

My heart does that weird thing again. He wants to hear my voice? He's coming to see me before I get off work?

I stare at the message, not sure what to say. I type and delete about three different responses before settling on something.

Good morning. I actually had a good time talking to someone other than myself and my dog for once. But you didn't get much sleep.

I hit send and immediately wonder if mentioning my dog was weird. Or if caring about his sleep makes me seem too interested.

The three dots appear almost immediately. Does this man just sit by his phone waiting?

It's sweet you noticed. I'm good though, always running on little sleep. But what kinda dog you got, and more importantly, how did you sleep, beautiful?

I just stare at the phone. Why does he keep calling me sweet names? My face is hot.

I slept okay. She's a pit bull. I got her about 2 years ago.

Slept better than I have in a while, but I'm not telling him that.

Glad you slept good. You ever gonna let me meet her? What's her name? I love animals.

He wants to meet my dog. That definitely means he's wanting to come over to my place.

I freeze. My mind starts racing. Him coming to my place? That's...I don't know if I'm ready for that. What if he sees how I actually live? What if—

My phone beeps again.

Guess I scared you again. I'm okay with moving as slow as you want to. Finish getting ready for work. Text me when you can.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. He's not pushing. He's giving me space.

I set my phone down and force myself to get ready. Quick shower, throw on some jeans and a band tee, messy bun—same as always. By the time I'm walking out the door, it's 11:45. I'm gonna be cutting it close.

I pull out my phone before starting my truck.

Her name is Magz. Headed to work now. Text you soon

Work is pretty slow, so I try to stay busy so I can quit thinking about checking my phone—which I've done too many times to count in the last couple of hours.

He still hasn't responded.

I keep telling myself it's fine, but the voice that loves to taunt me keeps saying he's already losing interest. I waited too long and scared him off.

By 4 pm, I've done told myself that he's done with me. That whatever this was, it's over.

The doorbell goes off, and I look up from stocking the mini shots.

It's him.

He's got a small set of flowers and a bag of food.

I'm frozen, staring at him like some i***t.

"Hey, gorgeous." That smirk on his face. "Thought you might be hungry."

I stand up too fast, almost tripping like a fool. My face is red. "What—what are you doing?"

"Well, I said I'd come and see you today." He walks over and sets the flowers and food down on the counter. "Got you some food to eat."

My face definitely probably looks like a tomato. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, but I wanted to. Eat up, and I'll just hang out with you for a minute."