“Then you need to reach out. Trust me, this will work.”
I sigh and glance at the TV just in time to see Eli check somebody into the boards and shoot the puck over to Posey, who passes it to Holmes. Winnie is right. I need to close the gap between us, and if that means sucking up my pride to say something, then I will.
Penny: Good game tonight. You guys looked great out there.
I stare at the text message as my stomach churns with nerves. Reaching out to him like this feels awkward. I’m not sure he’s even going to respond. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. Two weeks is a long time to share a living space and not talk. But they’re on a long road trip this go-around, so it might be good to try to patch things up now when we aren’t necessarily face to face.
Yes, that’s the immature way of thinking, but listen, I’ve been thrown for a loop here. I’m juggling this pregnancy with trying to keep things calm with the father of my child. If I want to hide behind text messages to make things better, then so be it.
No judgment!
Lying in bed, I open the team’s TikTok app to scroll through fan messages and comments when at the top of my screen, a text comes through from Eli.
Bracing myself, I click on it and read.
Eli: Thanks. It was a needed win. How are you feeling?
His go-to question. It’s what he asks almost every single day but doesn’t extend the conversation after my typical answer of “okay.” I’m worried he might do the same thing here.
Penny: Okay. Didn’t have much to eat even though Winnie came over and brought salad and pizza.
After I press send, I quickly exit the text thread because I’m too worried I won’t see him responding. That I won’t see those three dots pop up, telling me that he is engaging. I talked about pizza. That’s opening up the conversation, right? Let’s see if he takes it.
But when he doesn’t answer right away, panic sets in.
God, why is he taking so long to respond?
Is he going to respond?
I’m tempted to go back to the thread to see if it shows him typing, but instead, I decide to distract myself and open TikTok again just as my phone buzzes and a text comes through.
“Thank God,” I whisper.
I click over to the thread.
Eli: Were you not hungry or was the pizza shit?
I chuckle and text him back.
Penny: Been uneasy lately, so my stomach has been in knots. Haven’t been super hungry.
This time, I can see him typing back right away. I settle into my mattress and curl up to my pillow as I wait for his response.
Eli: What have you been uneasy about?
He took the bait, and now I need to just be honest like we said we would be. On a deep breath, I text him back.
Penny: Us. We were in such a good place before the fight with Remi. And I don’t know how to fix it.
I toss my phone to the side and cover my eyes as I take a few deep breaths. God, why is this so hard? Why do I feel like a teenager all over again trying to communicate with a boy? It shouldn’t be like this. It should be easy. I should be calm and relaxed.
My phone buzzes, and I pop up and grab it.
Eli: Me neither. But I want to.
Relief floods me. This is exactly what I wanted. Open communication. His willingness to patch things up along with mine. I need to tell Winnie how smart she is.
Penny: How about this? I’m sorry about what happened. I was upset about how you acted, and I should have spoken to you rather than yelled at you.
Eli: I’m sorry, too. Not for what I did, defending you, but for how I did it. I understand what you mean about getting into fights. I wouldn’t want our kid to do the same.
Penny: Thank you for apologizing. I really appreciate it.
Eli: Are things cool with us?
Penny: You tell me.
Eli: I’ve been giving you space because I know how upset you were. I didn’t want to push my luck.
Penny: I was giving you space.
Eli: Lol, how about next time, we just talk to each other when we’re not as heated.
Penny: Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.
Eli: Wishful thinking. There will be a next time. 100 percent certain. We’re moving to uncharted territories for the both of us, so there are bound to be some bumps along the way. But we’re not going to go through two weeks of not really talking to each other. Got it?
Penny: Got it. *sighs* Thank you for texting back. I was nervous you weren’t going to.
Eli: Seriously? I was just sitting here, hovering my thumb over your name, trying to think of something, anything to say to you to open the conversation.
Penny: You could have told me something like . . . oh, I don’t know, something like you ate an apple.