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THE rest of the morning was dreadful. if things weren't already awkward, they definitely were now.
"is it cool if we swing by the guys' again later?" schlatt asks drawing erin out of her thoughts. "i think i left my hat."
erin obliged with a nod and continues to let her gaze wander out the windshield. she desperately wanted to talk to tanner about this, but she wasn't sure if she had the green light. if schlatt was this interested in keeping things under wraps, she doubted he would be fine with tanner sticking his nose in their business.
issac and nick were at the gym, leaving larry, yumi, and tanner at the house. yumi, who was still dead asleep since he had decided to stream lethal company at four in the morning.
nick let it slip that they were once again having a get-together with mutual friends. erin on the other hand prayed that they were gonna be able to sneak in and out without it turning into a huge thing. she honestly didn't know how they did it, throwing parties frequently. midday, might she add. erin handled her alcohol just fine but didn't have a particular interest in partying. despite his reputation, schlatt wasn't much of a drinker either.
it was nearing noon by the time they wrapped up their drive. they stopped at a local coffee shop and waited for the okay from the guys on a good time to head over.
neither schlatt nor erin had planned on staying long, but shortly after they arrived at the house issac was mixing schlatt's gamersupps flavor with a bottle of vodka. it was barely past the appropriate time of day to consume alcohol, but no one dared to blink an eye.
as the visit went on, more people started to fill in one by one. erin found herself outside on the deck yet again, but this time with tanner.
she was conflicted at first, but decided to ignore the voice in her head and spilled the beans about schlatts proposition in the car. tanner listened intently, nodding his head in understanding. he could see the genuine emotions in erin's eyes and knew that she was longing for something more meaningful with schlatt, and was just unsure on how to convey that emotion to him.
tanner had started out as a mutual friend to the guy, but knew schlatt well enough to sense his fear of commitment. at the same time, he also knew that schlatt cared deeply for erin, even if it was more than he was willing to admit. in the midst of their heart-to-heart conversation, tanner encouraged erin to be bolder with her actions and to attempt sending stronger hints about what she wanted. he understood that maybe taking things slower would be a smart choice but also with the hopes of setting a goal for something more, not just a casual fling in the meantime. feeling like he could host a talk show for relationship advice, tanner felt that sometimes a little push in the right direction was all that was needed to change someone's perspective.
