Free Now a Major Motion Picture by Stacey Wiedower

He was so out of practice, he didn’t know he’d had it in him.
    The server appeared then with their sandwiches, and that was the extent to which he thought about it. He bit into his Southwest pita and answered with his mouth full when Mark asked him if he was going anywhere to watch the Cowboys that night. They moved on to a debate about which beer style was better, porter or lager, and soon it was back to work.
     
    * * *
     
    In fact, he didn’t have much time to think about Erin at all that week—his looming presentation with the hotel client kept him in the office well past nine every night. He went home every afternoon to get Amos and bring him to the office after his co-workers had left, something he often did in busy periods so Amos wouldn’t feel abandoned. On the way back to his condo each night, he grabbed takeout, and by the time he and Amos got home, he was so exhausted he crashed out in front of the TV, sometimes not making it into bed until the sun was coming up. Usually he tried to hit the gym a couple times a week, but he didn’t make it there once.
    So when Erin’s name popped up on his electronic calendar Friday morning, he was taken off guard by the quiver that ran through his stomach. He headed out the door at six that night—he wanted time to clean up before driving the short distance from his place to hers to pick her up for their date at seven.
    After changing into casual khakis and a blue V-neck sweater that unintentionally accentuated the deep blue color of his eyes, he left to pick her up, arriving at her place a few minutes early. He opened the car door and got out, but before he had time to reach her door she swung it open and breezed outside.
    “Hi,” she said, flashing him a grin.
    “Hi,” he answered, surprised she hadn’t played the waiting game he’d expected. She didn’t seem to be into mind games, which he liked.
    He opened her car door and she raised an eyebrow, impressed. Seriously, does no one do that anymore? He really was from the dating Dark Ages.
    After maneuvering his car out of the complicated network of streets inside Erin’s apartment complex, he headed north toward Addison, to his favorite Tex-Mex place. He’d thought about taking her somewhere more upscale, but decided to keep the pretense to a minimum. This place was him.
    It seemed to be her, too. Erin was surprisingly easy to please.
    As she walked ahead of him through the restaurant door, Noah’s eyes swept along her trim, five-foot, five-inch frame. She wore a casual skirt and a green sweater that hugged her curves without flaunting them. Her walk reflected an appealing combination of confidence and class.
    This time, his head was fully in the game.
    He found out a lot more about her tonight. She was twenty-eight. After finishing her master’s degree at The University of Oklahoma, she’d applied for the Teach For America program and made it through what sounded like a terribly rigorous interview process. She’d landed an unlikely placement in her hometown to teach math at an inner-city high school and liked the job so much she chose to stay on after her two-year placement ended. She also liked her roommate, a sorority sister from her undergraduate days who worked at a Downtown accounting firm, but she was ready to find a place of her own.
    He learned she’d been engaged once, but had called the wedding off after finding out her fiancé had been cheating on her. That had happened six years ago, when she was still in college. The story hit way too close to home—and swung the conversation uncomfortably in his direction.
    “What about you? Any interesting romantic backstories?” she asked. “I know there’s something behind this air of mystery.”
    “Air of mystery?” He laughed. “I guess that’s one way to put it.” Noah picked up his beer and took a drink to stall for time. “I don’t think you really want to know,” he said, looking at her with one corner of his mouth turned up.