Infantry: A Military and Secret Baby Romance Novella by Haley Pierce

Author:Haley Pierce [Pierce, Haley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Haley Pierce
Published: 2018-06-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

He didn’t call me later that day. Or the day after. Or the day after that. I fought the urge to call or text him myself. Megan said it was important to test if he was actually intending to call, or was he just saying that to sound sweet. Still, when I met her for coffee, she had to pry my phone from my hands more than once.

Would it hurt Derek to let me know that he wasn’t interested? Even a simple text message would suffice. He could at least make up some excuse, and then I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about when—or if—my phone would ring.

I was at my little office in my apartment, answering work emails and organizing some notes about my next design project. Fresh coffee steamed next to my monitor, but it was bitter even after adding sugar. It tasted like I was just drinking coffee dregs. I should have stopped at a Starbucks instead of the gas station around the block. It was an amateur mistake.

Just as I was contemplating dumping my Styrofoam cup full of brown water and walking the extra two blocks for a better version, my phone buzzed.

I swooped it up, but it was just Megan sending me my daily reminder to not text Derek. I sighed. Sometimes she was too much on the ball.

Less than a minute later, my phone buzzed again. I ignored it and rearranged some pens and paperclips on my desk. Now she was bordering overbearing. Self-control was not something I particularly lacked. I could resist calling a guy. I could.

My phone shook again and I hissed under my breath. Megan was great, but sometimes...

I picked up my phone, but my thumb froze, hovering over the notification. It was Derek.

My eyes shifted around my apartment. I tapped the messages open.

Hi Claire, how’s it going?

Want to hang out?

Not even an apology. I frowned and responded,

It’s going okay. I was worried you had lost your phone for the past couple of days. :P

I added the tongue-sticking-out-face to lighten the mood. Hopefully he’d take it more as a tease than the accusation it somewhat was.

I stared at the text on the screen, hoping his response would be a good one. I took a sip of the dirt-flavored coffee and scrunched my face. There was no response and I took another sip, glaring at my phone.

My cup was only a quarter full by the time he finally replied.

I harrumphed as I opened his message.

Haha, no. Got tied up with last-minute preparations before I leave. Sorry. I wanted to wait until I could give you my full attention. My job isn’t that normal after all.

I relaxed into my seat and realized that my shoulders and—well, everything—had been tense. If he was being honest, it was a fair excuse. I couldn’t find fault in him for being considerate.

I typed back,

Hanging out sounds good to me, but I want proof.

I watched the dots appear and disappear a few times while he typed. Then the screen was still for a while.

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