Page 100 of Bumping into You

I snap my head up at his comment, and he chuckles.

“Go after her,” he says matter-of-factly.

“But what if she doesn’t want me? It hurts too much,” I admit.

“But it’ll hurt more if you don’t. You’ve had a lot of heartache this past year, and I know that can’t be easy. Love can hurt, but when you find the right person, it’s worth going all in. What would your mam say?”

I picture my mam. Mam would have loved Gwen. Gwen is spunky and loves fiercely. My mam would say that is just the person her son needs: someone who can make me laugh, keep me on my toes, and feel like home. She’d be appalled I’d been moping around the house and not fighting for who I love.

I smile a genuine smile, the first in a few days, before I reply to the captain, “She’d tell me to get my head out of my arse and go marry her before someone else does.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” he asks.

Chapter 49

Gwen

The following Wednesday, I’m back at my office bright and early. I decided to get a head start on the day’s to-do list before the rest of the staff arrive. It’s not like I can sleep anyway. Last night, we held an alumni event at one of the historic mansions in Donelson, and there’s still a lot that needs to be cleaned and put away.

“Hi, Gwennie,” a voice startles me. I spin around to see my brother looking sheepish.

“Hi, G,” adds Holly warmly from behind him, then she glares at her husband. I walk past Greg, practically ignoring him, and give Holly a big hug.

“How was Vermont?” I ask, forcing a smile for my best friend, now sister-in-law.

“It was perfect, but that is not the point of why we dropped in unannounced, is it, Greg?”

Greg nods.

“Greg has something he wants to say to you,” Holly continues. “I’m going to For The Love of Sugar. When you two are done, come over and I’ll have your favorites ready for you.”

Greg and I watch as Holly leaves out the door. “Marriage has made her fierce,” I say.

Greg laughs. “Yeah,” he agrees, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’m guessing I know what you want to speak about, and while I don’t really want to hear anything you say, I know Holly willknow if we’ve had this talk or not, so let’s just get it over with.” I pull out two stools for us to sit on.

“First, I want to say I’m sorry,” Greg says, looking sincere. “What I did was with good intentions. I never meant for you to get hurt. I wanted the opposite actually.”

“Go on,” I say.

“The morning we boarded the cruise, I ran into Niall at breakfast. I asked him to spend time with you during the cruise to help you have a good time like Trent, Niall, and I had in college together. You’ve just been so distant and sad lately, not like yourself at all. I’ve been worried about you and got the not-so-brilliant idea that you could benefit from some of Sully’s energy. And for the record, I just want to say it worked. You came out of your shell on the cruise.”

I glare at him, my arms crossed over my chest.

“But that’s beside the point,” he continues. “Niall was hesitant to agree to it at first. It took some convincing on my end. And then you two seemed to be having a good time, maybe more than a good time.” Greg gives me a wink, but I remain stoic.

“Anyway,” Greg continues, “I didn’t find out about your pact until much later. Then I saw Niall kiss you, and I confronted him about it because that definitely wasn’t part of the favor I asked him. I mean, I practically pulled a you, when you yelled at me about Holly. I was going to kill him for playing with you like that.”

Then Greg says something that shocks me to my core. Something I never saw coming.

“But, Gwennie, the sincerity in his eyes and the tone of his voice when he told me how it wasn’t pretend and it had never been pretend. I just, I saw a little bit of me in him. How I felt about Holly, I mean. He truly cares for you; I’d say he even loves you.”

My eyes shoot up at his use of the word love. My breath halts.It can’t be, he couldn’t.

“If he cared that much,” I say, “he wouldn’t have kept a secret like this from me. I can’t be in a relationship that is based on a lie. I need someone who is going to be open and honest with me.”

“Yes, Gwennie, but Niall is a good guy, a great one even. Did he maybe make a bad decision in listening to me? Yes. But I don’t think he’d ever purposely try to hurt you. And I’d bet if you gave him a chance, he wouldn’t ever do anything like that again.”

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