Page 40 of Pretend I’m Yours
“Come on, man. I know you well enough to know that you still aren’t telling me something,” he prompted. “What’s going on?”
I hesitated. Finally, I gave up. I had told him this much, I may as well come clean about the rest. Hell, he had already proven to be on my side in this crazy situation, so why not confide in him like I did over my wife and the divorce?
“Things didn’t go entirely as planned,” I admitted.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“Meaning I really like this girl. A lot. When I got out of the service – when Anna Marie did what she did to me – I promised myself I wasn’t ever going to fall in love again. I was going to just live my life for me and do what I wanted to do,” I said.
“Yup. You told me that the last time we talked,” Brody replied. “And this girl has changed that?”
“That’s the problem. She has, but I don’t know how she feels about me, and I’m not sure how to talk to her about it. Falling in love was never part of our agreement, and for all I know, she could be counting the days until I’m gone,” I said. “I don’t know what to say to her.”
Brody took a drink and thought for a moment. “Does she seem to like you?”
“A lot,” I said. “But then, we are pretending to be married, so of course she’s going to act like she likes me.”
“Even when the two of you are alone? How’s that?” he prompted.
“We’ve slept together twice,” I said. “If that tells you anything.”
“It says a lot when it comes to women,” he said. “It sounds to me like you better grow a pair and talk to her.”
“I’m just afraid of what she’s going to say. Hell, if she doesn’t feel the same – or if she’s creeped out that I have feelings for her after all this, I don’t know,” I said.
“But you’re running out of time, and if you never say a word and you end up losing her, you’re going to spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you had just manned up and listened to me,” Brody said. “Come on, the worst that’s going to happen is that she’s going to tell you she doesn’t feel the same.”
I sighed. He was right. But, to me, that was one of the worst things that could happen in my life at this point. Telling her the truth would be putting a lot on the line for me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it if she didn’t feel the same way.
But, if I didn’t say anything and ended up losing her, then I would forever hate myself and wonder what might have been. It was a gamble, but it might be one that was worth taking, even if it could mean that I once again had my heart ripped from my chest.
“Alright,” I said at last. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Good. I’d do it soon,” Brody said. “You never know when this is going to be over.”
“I know,” I nodded. “I’ll do it today.”
18
Hannah
I sighed and set down my book at the sound of a knock at the door. Drake told me earlier that morning he was going to go out with a friend, but he had a key, and if he had gotten home, he’d have been able to let himself back in. Not to mention, I didn’t expect him to be back so soon.
When another knock rang through the apartment, I got up and headed for the door, eager to get whatever package might be being delivered or give directions to whoever was obviously lost and send them on their way. I slid back the lock without looking through the peep hole and stopped short when I pulled the door open.
My parents were in the hall, both standing with their arms crossed and looking down their noses at me. I was immediately reminded of when they would come barging into my room after the grade reports were given out.
My first instinct was to close the door right in their faces, but I merely gave them a confused look.
“Mom? Dad?” I asked. “What are you doing here? Nothing’s broken, you don’t need to come in.”
“We aren’t here to look at the place,” my father said. “We’re here to talk to you.”
“After all this time, huh?” I asked. “Must be my lucky day.”
“There’s something important that’s come up,” my mother said. “It’s not our fault that you only wish to talk to us when you’re in some sort of trouble.”
“Well, I’m not in trouble so there’s no need to talk to you,” I remarked with a flip of my hair. “Can’t you send a text or something?”
“This is important, Now, you can either let us in now or you can find yourself a new place to stay that we don’t pay for,” my father said.
