I open the door and greet him with a smile.

"Looking good — as always. Did you miss me?" Zach leans in for a kiss, but I pretend I don't see a thing.

"Get in here. This marathon ain't gonna watch itself. This show has four seasons, so strap on tight. We have to finish season one today."

Zach makes himself at home. He sits as close to me as possible. "Nice. By the way, are you sure this will be my style? I'm picky with TV."

"Trust me. Even if it's not your style, it will be once the main plot starts to take full focus in like episode 3." I smirk. "And when you like it, you owe me twenty dollars."

There is a shimmer in Zach's eyes. "Hey... those twenty dollars are mine. Whose to say you're not already mine too?" His hand is gently on my thigh. "Trish, we have been playing the flirting game for a while, but I want to actually know if I have a chance. I'm starting to catch some serious feels and... if you don't want to date then let me know. I just don't want to waste time fighting for something that's not gonna happen."

His confession isn't surprising. However, it caught me off guard. "Um... uh... listen. Remember when we almost kissed at the club? Well, I was ready to start something with you last night. Later that night I ran into someone from my past... the person I refused to talk about when I first told the church what happened to me.

You won't believe me, so I'll give the vague version of the truth. "That guy who was a bad influence on me was at the club. He followed me home. He basically just wanted to see how I was doing and say he was sorry. I was highly skeptical, but... he won me over with his vulnerability and lack of usual smug confidence. He finally felt like a real person. Long story short, we're together. I'm... I'm sorry Zach."

He nods his head. "Okay then. Now I know. I can move on. Do you mind if we postpone this binge watch? We can do this tomorrow."

The guilt hits me harder than any slap my mother gave me. I feel bad. I led him on because I was planning to start something with him. I switched it on him last minute. Now he has to process the situation change.

"Yeah. Tomorrow. Wait. Before you go, just know that I wasn't leading you on. I meant it. Things just suddenly changed all in a few hours. I just don't want you to hate me or think I was playing games with you. I wasn't. I want us to be okay. Are we okay?"

He smiles and nods before walking out. The sound of the door closing replays over and over.