Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 13

A few weeks had gone by since Whitney and I's first awkward meeting, and they really hadn't gotten much better.

We continued to keep our talking to a minimum, and the tension filled moments didn't stop. I was still debating if I wanted to keep doing this, but something was making me stay.

It was probably more like someone that was keeping me there, but I wasn't ready to admit that. I still couldn't figure out if I just really wanted to sleep with Whitney again or if there was something more.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to find out, but it didn't seem like there was much of a chance of that happening anyway. Her and Cameron were still together, and so were Tanner and I, although it felt like I was just going through the motions with him at this point.

Tanner wasn't a bad guy or anything, but Gabbie was right, he was kind of a tool. I never really intended for it to turn into something serious when we started sleeping together, we'd always just been having fun.

It just wasn't as fun as it used to be, and I didn't know what to do about it.

We were having lunch together one day, and I was trying to keep my focus on our conversation, but it wasn't going well.

"Bailey?" Tanner said as he put his hand on my arm.

"What? Sorry, I was spacing out," I said.

"Yeah I noticed," he responded, "everything good? Need to go bang one out or anything?"

He smirked at me and I shook my head at him.

"No, good try though," I grinned.

"Always worth a shot," he said with a shrug.

My phone was sitting on the table in front of me, and I heard it buzz as we were talking. It was an unfamiliar number, and I opened up the text to figure out who it was from.

"Hey, it's Whitney, can you stop by my office sometime today? Have to ask you about something."

"Uh I actually have to get going," I said to Tanner as I started to respond to her text.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, sorry," I said, "I just have to go meet with my professor for some TA stuff."

"Okay, see you later babe," he said.

He grabbed on to my hand and pulled me over to him for a quick kiss before I left.

I walked outside and in the direction of Whitney's office as I finished sending her a text.

"Yeah, be there in a few," I sent.

I was probably being a little too eager with how fast I was running over, but these days I seemed to be looking for any excuse to see her.

Fuck, this was not good.

I got over to the office building a few minutes later, and I walked up to Whitney's door and knocked on it.

"That was fast," she said as she looked up from her computer.

"Oh, yeah," I said awkwardly, "I wasn't very far away."

"Okay well," she sighed before continuing, "your advisor, and my boss, have told me about a conference that would be good to attend."

"Okay..." I said, not sure why this involved me.

"I mean they basically said I needed to go," she said.

"I'm still not sure where you're going with this or why you wanted me here," I told her with a confused look on my face.

"Well they - they want both of us to go actually," she finally said, "they said it would be really beneficial with your major and since we're working together and all of that stuff."

"Oh..." I trailed off.

"But you don't have to," Whitney quickly clarified, "I'll be going, but it's completely optional for you."

"And it's okay if you don't want to after um - well it's obviously a bit of a different situation with us," she continued.

"But my advisor said it would be good and recommended it?" I asked.

"Yeah," Whitney sighed, "he said it would be a really good opportunity when we talked about it, but like I said you really don't have to if - "

"No I'll go," I cut in, leaving her looking surprised.

"You will?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows at me.

"Sure, why not," I shrugged, "if it'll be so great for me to go with my major I don't want to miss out."

"I didn't think really think you'd care about that I guess," she said.

"I usually don't," I grinned, "thought I'd try something different."

Whitney put her head down and grinned before responding.

"Well, alright then, I guess I'll tell them we're both going."

"Perfect," I said, "when is it?"

"It's next weekend," she said to me, "we would leave Saturday morning and come back Sunday afternoon."

"Is it in town here?" I asked her.

"Nope," she shook her head, "but it's only about an hour away, so it's not too bad of a drive."

"Does that mean you're offering to drive?" I asked.

"I was going to anyway," she said, "so yes I guess so."

"Good," I nodded, "hopefully it's worth my time."

"I've been to a similar one before, and it usually is," she said, "and if nothing else, most people go to the hotel bar on Saturday night so that part is always fun."

"Hm, I like your thinking," I grinned.

"Yeah I figured you would," she responded, "but anyway, we'll have to leave kind of early on Saturday."

"What time?" I asked.

"Probably about 7:30, the first event is at 9:00," she said as she looked at her computer.

"Damn, that is pretty early for me to roll out of bed," I sighed, "but I can manage."

"Are you um, are you sure you want to come?" Whitney asked me hesitantly.

"Why? Were you hoping I said no?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow at her.

"No," she quickly said, "I'm just surprised, with how things have uh - with how things have been between us. I know it's been pretty uncomfortable for both of us at times."

"You're not wrong," I agreed, "but I don't know, I think we can handle it, don't you?"

"I know we can, I just wasn't sure if you'd want to," Whitney said.

"Well I might regret it," I said jokingly, "but yeah let's do it."

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