~Annalee~

"That was a great movie! I definitely would recommend it, ten out of ten." Raina said laughing as we left the movie theater.

"Agreed! I'd even go see it again in the theater," I responded.

We walked across the street to my car and I noticed the streets in Naperville tonight weren't as busy as they usually were.

"It's the McDublin's jig night," Raina said curing my curiosity, tossing her dark brown hair over her shoulder.

"Oooh, that's tonight?" I asked. "I thought that was next week," I shrugged getting into my car and Raina following.

Raina Wolter has been one of my best friends since we were in college together. She is a very strong independent woman who enjoys having fun! Raina is super athletic and enjoys playing soccer and softball, she is very competitive.

As we made my way back to our apartment my phone vibrated and I looked down to look at it. Yeah, yeah I know we aren't supposed to text and drive but whatever... (A/N: This is part of Annalee's personality and consequences will occur in the latter of the story, please be cautious and do not text and drive it is very dangerous and causes many accidents resulting in death or injuries.)

I opened my phone and noticed Jason had texted me, I wondered what he had to say. He probably wanted to see if I enjoyed my time at the lake house no biggie, so I decided to open it.

📱JASON <3: Hey Annalee, it's Jason, just wanted to see if you made it home safely.

📱 ME: Jason, I have your number saved still silly. But, yes I made it home safe, and may I say I highly recommend the new Guardians movie.

📱JASON <3: I'm glad you enjoyed it and made it home okay.

Oh dear, he double-texted me...

📱JASON <3: Did you happen to lose an earring? When I changed the sheets on the bed in the guest room I noticed there was a hoop earring on it.

"Hey, could you look in my purse and see in the inside pocket if there's a set of hoop earrings in there?" I asked Raina since I was driving.

"Yeah sure," Raina responded opening my purse and checking the pocket.

"There's is one, you must have lost the other' She confirmed.

"Thanks," I answered.

📱ME: I didn't even notice but I just checked my purse where I thought I had put the earring and noticed one was missing, so yep that's mine. You can mail it to me if you want, I can send my address.

I didn't want to inconvenience him at all as he has done so much already for me over the last few days.

📱JASON <3: No, need I'll be in Naperville in about a month and I can drop it off, it's the same amount of time basically as mail, plus then we can catch up and grab a coffee maybe.

"Ope... he wants to see me again," I thought.

📱ME: OK, sure. I'd Like that. See you then.

After I finished typing the last text I locked my phone and smiled.

"Jason's got you wrapped around his finger doesn't he?" Raina says laughing and rolling her eyes playfully.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked laughing nervously.

After spending time with him this last day it made me realize how great he is, how fun, and how much of a good guy he truly is. I think I am starting to miss him. I want the fun times we had back in high school to be a reality now.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious Lee" She answered.

Luckily I drove my car into the apartment's parking lot so this conversation could end. It was kind of embarrassing for me to have Raina see this side of me.

There's a part of me that's really happy Jason texted me and a part of me that's really sad. It's happy because maybe there is a chance for us to be together. But, it's sad because what about the time we've wasted and should have been together or because it won't work out?

I walked up the steps to my apartment and decided to listen to some Carrie Underwood before I went to sleep, Cowboy Casanova is a great song and I listened to it on repeat a few times until the song overstayed its welcome!

I have an early morning tomorrow because I record my show for Tuesday on Mondays if it's a pre-recorded show like it is this week. On my live shows which are once a month, I bring in special guests and take phone calls.

"Goodnight, Lee, I'm taking a shower and going to bed" Raina called from the dining room.

"Goodnight, sounds good, I'll save you some coffee," I said bidding her goodnight. I never saw Raina in the morning, I left an hour before she woke up. She slept in until she literally couldn't sleep anymore.

I remember back in college when class would start at 9:30 and she wouldn't get out of bed until 9:15 and she lived 15 minutes away. Raina had poor time management but she played on a college soccer team so I gave her some grace, plus anyone who says college is easy is crazy, it's a complete grind and any sleep you get is worth gold.

I also decided to turn it in because I wanted my show to be great since I know that Jason and some of my friends listen to it. I also made a mental note to dedicate this episode to Zach and his girlfriend as a surprise to them since they are such great fans!

I turned off my Mac book put my air pods in their case and set them on the charging pad. I also laid my phone and computer on the pad, as I wanted to be sure to have a full battery for my busy day tomorrow.

I laid down on my bed tucking myself under the sheets and grabbed my phone to double-check that my alarm was set to go off on time, once that was all taken care of, I returned the phone to the charging pad and went to switch my lamp off.

In a matter of seconds, I dozed off to the sound of white noise which automatically turned on as soon as my lamp shuts off and there's no light. I drifted into dreamland....

A/N: Next chapter will be a flashback....

Enjoy!!!! Don't you guys think this story is moving at a better pace than my other fast paced romance stories or do you guys think it's going too slow?? Please lemme know it really does help me. 

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EDITED 1/1/2024