Page 85 of Ripped & Shipped
Duke smiles this grin that’s so giddy I almost want to get up and punch him.
“Oh, yeah. You’ve got it bad.”
Thankfully, he didn’t pursue that whole line about Ella Mae’s feet. I can’t even believe I said that out loud. I’m losing it.
I look at Duke, then I drop my head into my hands. He’s right. I probably knew I had feelings for Ella Mae all along. But it’s like those days when you feel this tickle in the back of your throat and you just know you’re getting sick, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Besides, who wants to get sick ever? So you down some extra vitamin C, lay off the sugar, and get to bed early. But the next morning, you feel a bit worse. You still hold out hope. Maybe this is as bad as it will get. Maybe it will pass in a day. That night, you’re under the blankets shivering with a fever and a raspy cough, and your throat feels like you swallowed nails.
Yeah. I just compared falling for Ella Mae to catching a cold. Let’s keep that between us.
“I think I might have it bad,” I admit.
“You and Ella Mae!” Duke slaps his knee like he won the lottery.
“No. Man. You know that can’t be a fact. We live here. There’s no possible way two people from our families can ever, ever be together. It’s a miracle we’ve even been able to talk to one another without a riot breaking out and a full-blown war ensuing between our families.”
“That’s all in the past. And it’s not your battle. That’s got nothing to do with the two of you.”
“Maybe not, but it’s real, and you know it is. We may want to rise above it, but this town won’t. All hell would break loose if we started to officially date.”
Am I honestly talking about dating Ella Mae, for real?
“And then there’s another issue. A big one. I’m ninety-nine percent sure she’s not feeling a thing for me besides gratitude and a little appreciation for my hard work in the gym. Maybe we’re friends now, but that’s all. She’s thinking of going out to LA to see this other guy—a big influencer who’s an even bigger jerk. He’s the one who stood her up that night at Frisch’s. But she’s considering flying out to the west coast so she can stay at his house with him and attend some big party he’s throwing.
“So, yeah. Even if I am having feelings for her …”
“You are. You definitely are.”
“Okay. Whatever. Even if I am, she’s not. And that’s all she wrote.”
Duke sinks back into the sofa, laces his fingers behind his neck, and turns his head so he’s looking right at me.
“Do you know how long I wanted to date your sister?”
“No. And don’t make me kick you out of my house by telling me.”
“She was six, on that little pink tricycle …”
Duke looks at me, serious as a heart attack.
I think steam comes out of my ears. He would have been nine. And that would have been so not okay with me.
“I’m kidding, man! She was fully legal and then some. All I’m saying is I wanted her for a long time before she ever let on that she felt anything for me. You don’t just throw in the towel on a hunch that a woman doesn’t reciprocate your feelings. Besides, I hate to break it to you, but all signs point to the fact that you’re at the point of no return.”
“The point of no return?”
“Yeah. You’ve been bitten. You’ve got the bug. It’s not like you’re going to just shake these feelings. Even you, the master of self-discipline, able to withstand all torture and keep a straight face. Whatever you learned in the Army, it’s of no use here. You’re in a new playing field. Love is not war. And you are not going to outwit your own emotions, my friend. You may as well wave the white flag, because once you start feeling things—really feeling things for a woman, you are done for.”
CHAPTER29
Chris
Duke keepsthe conversation lively over supper, asking my dad all sorts of accounting questions like the big brown-noser he is.
I shoot him a look when my mom asks my dad to pass the mashed potatoes.
“Kiss up much?” I tease.
Duke just shrugs and Shannon giggles. She thinks everything he does is adorable. I’m glad she’s happy, even if it is because she’s blind to any of his faults.
