Page 91 of Finding You
“Bullshit,” Liam muttered. “I call bullshit.”
“I already feel terrible enough. I’ve tried texting her a few times, just to show that I still want to be friends. And she hasn’t responded. I’m afraid to go anywhere in town. I half expect to wake up and find that Nora and Cece slashed my tires.”
“That is something they would do,” Liam said wistfully.
“I know.”
“So you don’t love her?”
“Of course I love her.”
“Are you sure? Because generally you don’t push people you love away.”
“I’m so fucked up that I do.” And wasn’t that the truth? I was a mess. “I love her. But I know I can’t keep her. She has to go out and do her thing, and I can’t hold her back. I’m not enough. This town is not enough for her.”
“How do you know that? Did she tell you that?”
“No. She didn’t have to. I knew it. We had an amazing couple of months together and that’s it. That’s all I get.” I drained my beer and wanted to be back on my couch, wallowing alone, with only Ginger to judge me.
Liam poured me a refill and paused for a minute. “You need to stop gushing about your feelings and do something,” he said.
There was nothing I could do. I knew that. “Astrid said feelings are sexy,” I muttered to myself, smiling at the memory.
“Yes,” Callum said. “To women. We are not women.”
“You should be talking to your woman about your feelings. Not us. If you told her how you feel you probably wouldn’t have screwed things up so badly,” Liam said. “That’s kind of the point. In a relationship you talk about your feelings with each other. Not random third parties.” He was so smug I would punch him if I had the energy.
“So you are the relationship specialist now?” I quipped.
He shrugged. “I’m engaged.”
I smirked. “It’s not legal yet. The poor girl might come to her senses eventually.” He threw a bar rag at me. I wished Ginger was here. She would have growled at him. Then I remembered that even my fucking dog hated me at the moment and sank further into my depression.
Cal clapped me on the shoulder. “You need to apologize, beg for forgiveness, and pray that she takes you back.”
“Yup,” Liam seconded. “Not only would that end this life crisis, but it would get you out of our hair, which would be excellent.”
“Why can’t you guys just let me wallow in peace?” I griped.
“Because we’re your brothers. And we don’t do that. Plus, this is supposed to be a business meeting. Not that we can conduct business with you looking… like that.” He gestured at me with his beer stein.
“I’ve been working a lot,” I snapped. “Paul and his wife had a baby. I gave him a few weeks off. So I’m Captaining his boat right now.”
“Wait, if you are out on the water all day, who’s doing all the other work?”
“I am, after hours. I just hit the office once we come back to port. I moved some meetings around and am basically handling everything at night.”
“That’s stupid. You can’t safely Captain and run a crew if you aren’t sleeping.”
“Or eating.”
“Or showering.”
“Dec, you gotta get it together. Remember when I pushed Cece away? I was a mess.”
I snorted. “That’s generous. You were a basket case.”
“Fine. But you two yelled at me until I got my head out of my ass and groveled. I got so lucky that she took me back. Trust me. I will never screw up that badly again.” He shuddered and I believed him. Cece was amazing and had generously forgiven him after he acted like a total asshole. The great thing about my brother was that he was smart enough not to make the same mistake twice.
