Roll Against Discovery (3d20 Book 3) by Allyson Lindt

line. “I can try, but I have a feeling it’ll only be you and me. I’m working late tonight. Tomorrow?”
    Was he bummed because Trevor couldn’t be there? I had to admit, I didn’t like it either, but I still wanted to see Evan. “I have an Aikido class. What if we do it Saturday? I’ve got all day, and we can figure things out as we go.” Did I sound needy? I was okay with that.
    “Sounds fantastic.” A hesitant note lined his voice.
    It wasn’t much, but I knew I’d heard it. “I said something wrong.”
    “No.” The cheer was gone from his voice, replaced with something sad. “You said exactly the right thing. In a lot of ways, you remind me of Trevor.”
    “I’m— Um…” I had no idea how to respond to that. “Thanks?”
    He let out a light chuckle. “It’s a good thing; I promise. It’s just a little bittersweet. He’s not talking to me right now.”
    “Why not?” I asked. A pause carried over the line, and realization clicked in my head. It was because of me. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s not your fault. I mean that sincerely. I’m not brushing you off.” He clucked, as if tossing a thought back and forth. “Anyway. Saturday is perfect.”
    We figured out a spot we both knew, to meet at, and said our goodbyes. I wanted to say more, but I’d rather it be face to face. I didn’t like the idea of having to wait so long to see Evan, but the situation was certainly better than before I messaged him. Maybe it would give me enough time to figure out what I really wanted, instead of getting by on instinct.
    I felt like I could breathe again, and still had an entire afternoon free. Nervous energy hummed through me, looking for an outlet. The dojo I worked out at had open classes during the day, where anyone was welcome to participate. It sounded like the perfect solution.
    Two and a half hours later, every inch of me ached, and I was in desperate need of a shower, but my mind was clear. I grabbed my phone from my duffel bag, and the flashing light caught my eye. Probably a random email or something. My heart jammed in my throat when I saw the series of text messages, one every thirty minutes or so.
    It’s Trevor. I got your note.
    I’m sure you’re busy. Just wanted to say hi.
    I don’t know why I’m still bugging you.
    Probably because I’m thinking of you, too.
    I had to stop the giddiness from making my hand shake before I could send back a reply. I missed you.
    Have dinner with me tomorrow. His answer came seconds later, and I couldn’t help but smile.
    I have an Aikido class.
    Oh.
    He didn’t give me much to go on, but I wasn’t ready for the conversation to be over. I typed back, Have coffee with us Saturday.
    Us? His message said. So you’re talking to Evan.
    It should have been obvious I reached out to both of them. He called me back. Was I going to ignore him?
    Busy Saturday. Sorry.
    Hurt welled inside. Fine. Be that way. It was a childish answer, but he wasn’t acting any better.
    Wait. If a single word, via text message no less, could convey torrents of meaning, his had. At least I wanted to think that was the case. I really am busy , his next message read.
    I hovered my fingers over the screen before I typed, Friday? Just us?
    Seeing them separately wasn’t the way to do this, but maybe I could nudge them toward common ground.
    I’ll be there, he replied.
    I needed this to not be a massive mistake.
    I headed home, tossing a million ideas around in my head about how to distract myself while I waited for time to pass.
    It took about thirty seconds to make sure I updated my phone and associated Evan and Trevor’s names with their numbers. Another two minutes, maybe, to put reminders in my calendar for our dates. Not that I needed anything more than my buzzing thoughts to remind me, but it was something to do.
    And then I sank onto the couch and stared at the wall. I should watch a movie or something. Or maybe I wanted to go out to eat. This was weird—I never wanted to go