Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Don’t rush the decision,” Tiny says. “I know you need to think about it. It’s a big move, but we’d need you to relocate as soon as next month if you want to join my team.”
“Um…yeah. I’ll definitely consider it.”
“I’ll send over the details about salary and more about the position so that you can really decide if this is what you’re interested in. We’ll have to meet for an interview, but I want you to seriously consider this and what it would mean in terms of rearranging your life. Moving away from your family and friends. If you’re going to do this, I need you to be all in. But I really think this would be a good match for both of us.”
He asks for my email address, and I give it to him before we hang up.
If this job is half as good as Tiny made it sound on the phone, then I’m one lucky motherfucker, but at the same time, moving to Chicago next month? That’s insane.
Even imagining it is scary as hell.
I’d be uprooting my life, leaving my mother. She’ll be happy for me, but she’ll miss me as much as she did when I moved to LA.
And I love Derek and Gary…and I still have so much I was hoping to explore with Cody. We were just getting started, Cody and I. Am I willing to leave that behind?
God, this is such a big fucking decision to be making in such a short amount of time.
The offer lifts my spirits through the rest of my workday, distracting me as I try to think about the practicalities of moving to another city. It’ll be easy to pack right now, especially since I had to move because of my breakup. And I see this shining light in my mind—success. Something I’ve always been reaching for—something I’ve craved for so long. Could this be what I’ve been wanting all this time? Am I seriously going to have a job doing something I love?
After work, when I get home, I check my inbox and see the email that Tiny sent over.
The starting salary is forty thousand. Holy crap, that’s a lot of money, considering I’m not making anything near that waiting tables.
I review Tiny’s company online, and it’s legit. And has great ratings and reviews from previous employees on Glassdoor.com. It’s encouraging, but shit, that just makes my decision even harder.
I start fixing lasagna for dinner, trying to distract myself from the serious choice that I have to make.
But it doesn’t even feel real.
Am I really going to end up moving to Chicago in a month? Nerves roll around my gut at the thought.
When the door opens, I turn to Cody, and seeing him relaxes me. But only for a moment until I remember that taking this opportunity means that this thing we’ve been exploring together—this thing we’ve been having so much fun with—is finished if I accept this offer.
Cody rushes to me, throws his arms around me, and kisses me.
“I’ve been missing you all day,” he says as he pulls away.
I beam as his words allow me to relax again a little bit.
I wish he wouldn’t be so goddamn adorable because that won’t make this any easier.
I’m about to just be out with it, but I figure that I shouldn’t spring it on him right after he got home. I let him hop in the shower while I finish dinner. That’s when we need to talk about this. Over dinner.
I set the table when he comes back, a bright smile across his face, his red locks still damp from his shower. He has a small patch of water on his chest of the T-shirt he wears.
I fix both of our plates as he sits and says, “This looks amazing. Ooh, I could get used to this.”
He winks at me, but hearing him say that makes me even more uneasy about bringing this up.
I don’t want to spoil his mood.
Hell, I don’t want to spoil my mood. I enjoy what we’re doing so much, and it’s going to be disappointing as fuck to have this interrupted.
Although, I know Cody well enough to know that he wouldn’t want me to pass up this opportunity. At least, I don’t think he would want me to.
God, I’m so confused about what to do right now.
We sit across from each other, sharing the meal. He tells me about his day at work. Talking about Doc and then he suddenly says, “You make a lot of good shit, but this lasagna is incredible.”
“Thank you.”
Now I feel bad. I can’t keep stalling. He deserves to know.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” I say.
His expression turns serious.
Shit. Why do I have to fucking do this? Why did this have to happen now?
32
Cody
“You remember that guy Tiny, I told you about? The one Sebastian hooked me up with that night at the bar?”