Page 192 of Safe With You

This time, it was Luna.

Luna: Please tell me you’re not one of those people who shows up fifteen minutes early.

I checked the time, then the directions to her place, and immediately realized she was right to be concerned. I’d been planning to leave in about five minutes.

Why?

Her response came almost immediately.

Ellis.

I smiled.

What?

What time were you planning to get here?

I considered lying.

8:45.

Three dots appeared.

Disappeared.

Came back.

You said 9.

8:45 is basically 9.

No it is not.

Close enough.

If you knock on my door before 8:55 I’m not answering.

I laughed.

Noted.

A few seconds passed.

I mean it.

See you at 8:55.

She sent me a thumbs-down.

I was still smiling when I grabbed my keys

I pulled into the parking lot of Luna’s apartment building at 8:54.

I knew because the clock on my dashboard changed the second I put the truck in park.

For a moment, I considered getting out anyway, but I remembered the thumbs-down she sent me and decided I’d rather not spend our first date standing outside while she proved she wasn’t bluffing.

So I waited.