Back to the Drawing Board by L.L. Collins Read Free Book Online Page B

as I was about to hit her number to call her, the screen changed and Hayden’s face illuminated on the screen. Saved. I hit accept on the call.
    “Hayden,” I answered.
    “Hey, Mac!” He’d taken to calling me Mac, short for McIntyre after I’d officially changed my last name. It had been annoying at first, but I kinda liked it now. “You back?”
    “I’m back,” I echoed. “And boy do I need your advice, man. You coming over here?” I knew already what I needed to do, but for some reason I needed someone else to tell me what I should do. Or tell me I was a moron. Either one.
    “Yeah, I’m on the road. I’ll be there in a few hours. You okay?”
    I breathed out slowly. “I’m not sure. I think I may have screwed things up.”
    Hayden laughed. “I’m sure you knocked it out of the park, Mac. You’re a shoo-in for that internship.” I couldn’t tell him that wasn’t what I was worried about, well at least not the biggest thing. I’d wait until he got here before unloading that on him.
    “Call me when you’re close, I’m headed out to the beach with my family right now.”

    We flopped onto the lounge chairs surrounding the pool, water dripping off of us from our rigorous swim. Hayden shook his head, his long curly hair flinging water all over me. He looked up at me, his shit-eating grin telling me he did that on purpose. He was, by account of most women we came across, a catch, with his light brown curls, big green eyes, and tall, muscular body. He was also hilarious and my best friend in the world. In the years I’d known him, he’d never had a serious girlfriend either. We liked keeping them at arms length and focusing on school and our goals.
    “Thanks,” I laughed. Hayden had just gotten here about an hour ago and we’d spent time in the pool, catching up on meaningless bull. He and I had been inseparable since we became roommates when we were both freshmen in college. He graduated last year with a degree in Marketing and was working for a PR firm in Fort Lauderdale. I missed the time we used to spend together and knew no matter where my new career took me, it was going to take me away from here. This was, in a way, a last hurrah for us before I joined the ranks of real life.
    “So tell me what you’ve been avoiding,” he said. “I’ve let you pretend for the last hour. Give it to me.”
    I sighed, staring at my phone on the table between us. I still hadn’t called her, using the excuse of playing with my siblings and then spending time with Hayden as a reason to not press the button. Hayden sat patiently, knowing I’d start when I was good and ready.
    Over the next fifteen minutes, I explained everything to him, from the second I walked into the interview until this morning when I left Julia in the hotel sleeping, and how she called me while I was on the plane. He said nothing, his gaze locked onto me as I let it all pour out. All of my insecurities, worries, and feelings about what had happened. With Hayden, I never pretended. He was the one person other than my family that I felt I could completely trust. There was no reason to sugar coat shit with him. Plus, I needed him to be real with me. I appreciated and loved my dad’s advice, but I also needed to hear what Hayden thought I should do.
    He whistled. “Ho-lee shit, Mac. So you have no idea if you had sex with her or not?”
    “Right,” I said, lowering my voice to make sure no one around us could hear. “I don’t think she remembered either. But then her message kind of seemed like maybe she did.”
    “And the dream? Do you think it was real?” Like I said, I hadn’t left out anything.
    “I wanted it to be,” I admitted. “But I have no idea if that was just my imagination or that’s what actually happened. How could I not remember having her? God,” I groaned. “She’s so beautiful, Hayden. I can’t even describe her. There’s just something about her that I’m drawn to.”
    “Well, obviously,” Hayden