Page 71 of Finding Romance
“Please, come in,” I grumble as I shut the door.
“Can you tell me why Piper just got in a car and left for the airport?” Hutch asks, his arms crossed and his face serious.
“Because she’s going to her dad’s,” I answer. But inside, I’m thinking, because I’m an idiot and let her go. And I’ll never forgive myself for not giving us a real chance, even though I still think she’s better off without me.
He holds up his hand. “Nope. Stop that right there, fuckwad. You are a total idiot if you are letting her go.”
“Geez, thanks,” I mutter.
“I’m serious, bro. She’s your perfect match. She made you light up. I’ve never once seen you as happy as you are when she’s around,” he says.
“Hutch, it was pretend. I was helping her out. I was giving her dating lessons and stuff,” I say, glossing over the sex that happened between us.
He raises an eyebrow. “Right. How long do you plan on lying to yourself?”
“I’m not lying.”
“You know, for someone who is a million times smarter than me, you are a real stupid fucker. You may have started out playing some ‘big brother, I’ll show you the ropes’ man, but somewhere along the line, you fell for her and she fell for you. This stopped being pretend days ago, maybe a week or two ago or more. Do you seriously want to give all that up? Not even give it a go? For what? Because you think she deserves something else?” he says.
“She deserves better. What if I can’t give her everything she needs?” I explain, admitting my feelings to my friend for the first time.
“Remember when you first got Napoleon?” Hutch asks as he walks over to my tank.
“I almost killed the poor guy,” I state dryly.
“Exactly. Almost. But you figured it out. You worked hard to save him and look at him now. Happy as a…sea anemone,” Hutch says, slowing down over the last few words.
“Mate, it was a pet. Piper is a person,” I say, not getting his analogy at all.
“I’m trying to say that when something is important to you, you do everything you can to make sure it’s alright. Relationships are hard, but I’ve already seen how you’ve changed. You protect her; you look out for her; you rearranged your schedule to be there for her. How is that not being the person she deserves?” Hutch asks.
I sit down on my sofa. “You’re right,” I finally state. Because he is right. I did a lot of things just to help her because I care about her. Fuck. I love Piper. I need her. She needs me. What the hell have I done?
I stand abruptly. “I need to get her back!”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about. Let’s go. Uh, we need Bray’s car,” Hutch says. He pulls out his phone and texts. “OK, he’s meeting us downstairs. Let’s go.”
“We?” I ask.
“Yeah, we. You need to buy yourself a ticket to Seattle, right now,” Hutch instructs. I get on my phone as we walk downstairs and find that there are a handful of tickets left on what I assume is her flight. I buy one.
Bray’s already parked out front in his fancy sports car which is completely impractical for city driving.
“Get in, losers, we’re going to get Kasen’s woman,” Bray calls out from the driver’s seat.
I look at Hutch, a man that makes even me seem normal-sized.
“I’ll fit,” he says, as if reading my mind.
“How? Is this a clown car?” I quip.
“Just get the fuck in,” he mutters as he climbs into the back. He has to keep his head ducked down and he looks ridiculous. “Bray?”
Bray turns around. “Do not get in an accident.”
Bray laughs. “Right. Come on, Kase.”
I climb in and he takes off at Mach speed down the street and straight to the airport.
