Page 47 of A Furry Thing Called Love
When we’re finishedwith our food, I get up from the table, and almost stumble as a bout of dizziness hits me.
Jordan wraps a hand around my arm, holding me steady as Eli scrambles out from underneath the table to lean against my other side.
“Okay?”Jordan asks.
“Yeah.”My face heats with embarrassment.“Stood up too fast, I think.I’m fine.”
I see concern in his eyes.“I promise.I’ve just been dealing with some fatigue today, and sometimes the side effects suck.Let’s just go back to Luka’s.I’ll be okay once I stop moving around for a while.”
The trust Jordan has for me shows, because I know he’s dying to sweep me off my feet and make me a damsel in distress, but he doesn’t.
With Jordan sliding my arm through his, and a good hold on Eli’s harness, I’m able to walk out of the restaurant without a catastrophe occurring, which is all I can ask for after the way my face burns with the idea that everyone is staring at me, waiting for me to fall on my ass.
We make it outside and the fresh fall air is invigorating, helping to clear my head a little, though I keep hold of Eli’s harness because I don’t trust my head or my legs right now.
“We have ice cream,” Grae says when everyone else shuffles out of the diner.“Let’s head home and have some.Callum made me buy all kinds of shit, because apparently, he thinks our house is an ice cream shop now.”
I laugh a little.“Ice cream sounds good.”
As Jordan leads me to the car, a strange sense of belonging fills me as no one makes a big deal over my stumble, or the way I need extra support right now.There are no questions upon questions about what happened, or how I’m doing, just silent support that makes it feel as if it’s a normal, everyday occurrence.
My chest tightens and my throat closes up with the emotion, because it’s everything to me, whether they realize it or not.
Chapter24
Jordan
Valeryand I are watching as the dogs run around off-leash at a dog park not far from their apartment.Arlo decided to stay behind, his fatigue still weighing him down, though he hasn’t had any other dizziness since the other day, thankfully.
“Be real with me, Jor,” Val says without prompting.“What’s going on with you and Arlo?Don’t give me the bullshit ‘we’re just friends’ line.Look, if I thought it wasn’t reciprocated, I wouldn’t say anything.I respect you and your choices.I just want you to know you can talk to me about your feelings—even if you’re not entirely sure what they are.
“Anyone who spends more than five minutes in a room with the two of you can see you have feelings for one another.I don’t want you to feel as if you have to hide anything from me.I don’t know…I just feel like I’m your best friend and whatever you’re going through, I don’t want you to do it alone.”
I stare at them.“Are you done?”
Val seems to think on it for a moment.“Yeah, that’s it.”
“I love you.I love that you care so much about me that you thought about this and wanted to make sure I knew you were safe.But I already knew that, Valery.”I smile at them.“I knew it when we were together, I believed it when we broke up, and that’s why you’re my best friend still.I can’t imagine my life without you in it.As for Arlo… I love him, Val.”
Sighing, I watch the dogs playing for a long moment before continuing.“When we met, we both knew the score.Arlo was only in town for the summer.I spent that entire summer falling in love with him, even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to.When he left, I had to admit to myself that I let the best thing to ever happen to me go.
“Seeing him back in town a few months ago… I didn’t know how to handle it.I both wanted to get close to him and stay far far away, because I couldn’t risk having my heart broken again.”Sucking in a breath, I scrub a hand across my eyes, wiping away the tears pooling there.
“We’ve been dancing around each other for months now, and I don’t know what to do.Our friendship…it’s solid.He’s as much a safe place for me as I am for him.I all but confessed my feelings for him not long after he moved back, but he hasn’t given me any indication he feels the same.It’s… Fucking hell, Val, we kissed a few weeks ago, for fuck’s sake, and I’m still not sure if asking for more is the right thing.”
Valery smacks me, hard, on the arm.“You’re an idiot,” they say.“Arlo looks at you like you hung the moon—when you’re not annoying the shit out of him with your mother henning, but even that I think he likes, far more than I ever did.
“I don’t think you have anything to lose by taking a chance.You already lost him once.I think, if you two mean as much to each other as you believe—taking the romantic aspects out of it—then even if he’s not there yet, or ever, you’ll be okay as friends.”
I grimace.“I hate when you use logic.”
Valery beams.“Isn’t it the best?”
After a few long moments of silence, they say in a gentle tone, “You’re not usually so indecisive, or torn, Jor.Especially not when it comes to relationships.You really like Arlo, don’t you?”
I release a shaky breath.“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, not even you—no offense.”
They snort.“None taken.We weren’t right for each other.Was I broken up about what happened between us?Of course.I was a mess when I first left, but as we settled into our friendship, I realized your place in my life never changed, we just stopped pretending what we had between us was more.So when I see you and Arlo together?I see us, but I also see themorewe never had.Trust in yourself, it’s never steered you wrong before.”
