Good as Gold // Josh Burrage

Chapter Fourteen

Three Weeks Later

Josh's POV
I sigh, setting my phone down. "I want to ask her out, but I don't know if she wants to be asked out," I say quickly.

Ben groans, rolling over in his bed to face me. "Josh, it's past midnight, can you please shut up and go to sleep? We have a show tomorrow," he mumbles.

"Fine." I huff. "I bet Marlee's up." I pick up my phone again.

"Don't keep her up." Ben rolls back over, but I text Marlee anyway.

Marleeeeeee

<< Are you up? >>

<< Yeah, what's up? >>

<< I need advice. Can you meet
me in the hallway? >>

<< Give me two minutes >>

I pull on a sweatshirt. "I'll be back," I say. Ben grunts in response as I leave the room. Marlee meets me next to the elevators.

"Is everything okay?" She asks, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "It's almost one o'clock."

"I'm having a crisis," I say, pacing back and forth.

"What is it?"

I stop pacing and face her. "I think I want to ask Indiana out," I say. I can feel my face turn red as I speak.

"Really?" Marlee questions too loudly, smiling. "Josh, that's so exciting!"

I shush her. "People are sleeping!" I whisper.

"Sorry," she says, whisper-yelling. "I was just waiting for this to happen. I mean, I knew you liked her, but-"

"Wait, who told you that?" I ask.

She smiles sheepishly. "Ben."

I gasp. "I thought I told him not to tell anyone!" I pause. "That's not the point. The point is, I think I want to ask her on a date, but I don't know how. I don't even know if she wants to go on a date with me. If she says no, I don't know what I'll do. I mean, I'd still want to be her friend, but it's so hard to tell with her that if she says no I'm afraid she'll cut me off for good," I ramble. Marlee stops me by gently placing her hand on my arm.

"Josh, calm down. She'd be missing out if she said no. You have no reason to worry, okay?"

"I don't?"

She shakes her head. "No. You don't. Now, when are you going to ask her?"

"That's the problem. I don't want to ask her too soon, but I don't want to wait too long," I admit.

She nods. "Okay. Let's work backwards. Pick a time and place for the date."

"I was thinking Monday afternoon. We can explore the city. I've never been to Utah before, and I've read up on things to do around here. There's this canyon about twenty minutes away. I think she'd appreciate that as opposed to being around a lot of people. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, I think that's a great plan. How are you going to get there?" Marlee pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"Take an Uber, probably. I think that's our best bet," I explain. "I think I'm going to ask her tomorrow before the show. Is that a good time?"

"It sounds perfect." Marlee smiles, stifling a yawn. "You've got this, Josh. Now I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" She leaves to go back to her room, and I walk down the opposite end of the hallway to my room.
I slip in quietly, trying not to wake Ben.

Although I'm exhausted, I have a hard time falling asleep. I'm too excited and nervous about asking Indy out tomorrow. Finally, around four o'clock, I slip off into a light sleep.