Surviving Love

Peacemaker

I had my phone pressed to my ear as I carried a gallon of deck stain to a cash register.

"So I was thinking we should do something other than just dinner. What do you think?" I asked Anna.

"Oh yeah, like what?"

Her voice was soft through the speaker of my phone.

"Well I found this cool mountain climbing place near by. I thought it might be cool to check out." I said.

I was still an anxious mess if I thought too much about taking Anna out again. I wanted to. I had fun the first time and our flirting at work had increased ten fold since. In between dealing with Jake, she was consuming my thoughts. And the more she was on my mind the more I found myself smiling at the thought of seeing her again. I still wasn't ready for anything serious but she was definitely interesting and I could suffer through some anxiety for interesting.

"Mountain climbing huh?" She said.

"Yeah it's an indoor thing."

"I'm down. But I have to warn you. I'm pretty competitive." She said.

I could hear her smile through the phone. I couldn't help the smile that spread to my face as I paid for the gallon of stain and headed out the door.

"I can handle a little competition, no worries." I said with a laugh. "Are you working tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm out a 5 and off the next day." She answered.

"Perfect. I'm working the night shift. Maybe I'll see you before you leave." I said. "If not I'll pick you up at 1 on Friday."

"I'm looking forward to it."

I felt heat rush to my cheeks and shook my head. Get a grip Jared.

"Me too."

I locked my phone, tossing it on the seat beside me as I slide into the driver's seat of Jake's truck. I had been driving Jake's truck because I was too lazy to get the brakes done on my old beater I kept for when the weather was bad or I had to drive somewhere too far for my bike. I hardly ever drove so I was never in a hurry to fix it when it broke. And now that Jake's truck was sitting in my driveway it had moved to the bottom of my list of things to fix. Besides it wasn't even fall yet and I was too focused on the house to care about my car. I had plans to wake up early and get the deck painted. I didn't have to work until later so it would leave me plenty of time to get it done.

------------

My heart was pounding through my chest as I navigated my way through the streets. It had already taken me longer than I wanted to get to Bryan's house. I yanked Jake's truck to the left pulling down the street. All the houses were quiet and dark as I crept my way through the neighborhood. I made the curve, seeing houses lit up and a couple people in Bryan's driveway. I threw the truck in park scrambling out as fast as I could.

"That's his brother right there." I heard Bryan's voice.

"I don't care who it is. I'm calling the cops." The other person said.

"Please don't." Bryan begged. "I swear it won't happen again."

"What happened?" I asked, coming to stand alongside Bryan.