Page 152 of Unhinged

I nod but whisper, “Not really.”

Greg shoves his hands into his hair and looks at the ceiling. Amos says, “It’s okay, Greg.”

“Stuff it, Amos!” Greg drops his hands and head. “I’ve tried telling you all week, but it petrified me.”

Panicked, I look back and forth between the two. “Tell me what? That I can’t work at the bar?”

“No, goddamn it! I’m in love with you, Simone! You are the woman I want! There is no one else! Can’t you fucking see that?”

My heart stops, and all I’m able to do is stare at Greg’s handsome but anguished face. Amos asks, “Simone, did you hear him?” Still numb, I blink as I look from Greg to Amos.

When I return to Greg, he clears his sudden hoarse throat. “Jesus Christ, Simone. Say something. If you don’t feel the same, then I need to know because, like you, I can’t watch you fall for someone else, either. It was hard enough watching you fawn over Tesco.”

“I… What?” I shake my head, utterly shocked and confused.

Greg tentatively sits down next to me on the bed. He licks his lips and says, “There was a night when you were taking care of Birdy that I looked at you in the recliner and felt a lot of heavy things. The night I kissed you at Jake’s, I knew for sure that I had fallen for you, hook, line, and sinker. But afterward, I freaked out because I thought you only wanted to use me since Tesco didn’t take the bait. In your attempt to win Tesco, you snagged the wrong guy. I kissed you for real, Simone. So, over French toast, when you asked if I’ve ever been in love, I answered yes because I’m in love with you.”

I gasp and use the frilly pillow to cover my mouth to muffle whatever sound will come from it. Greg watches me, anxious and vulnerable. I drop it and blurt, “Sweet Lord! I fell for you in fucking Baltimore! You helped my brother, asking for nothing in return. God, Greg. I got up through the night to go to the bathroom, and when I came back, I watched you sleep. You went to chase down my brother, but you snagged his sister! And I never wanted Ricky. It was an excuse. I wanted to spend more time with you and hoped maybe you’d fall for me too.”

Greg’s jaw drops as tears fill his eyes. “You…fell for me?”

I nod with a loud, deep breath. “I love you, upside down and inside out. It’s only ever been you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’ll ask the same thing.”

“I thought you’d laugh at me. I had a crush my senior year, and it went horribly wrong.”

Tears flood my eyes, knowing he’s talking about that monster bitch who attacked him. I stutter, “I would never, ever do that to you, even if I hadn’t felt the same and only wanted to be friends.”

“Your selflessness is one thing that I fell in love with.”

Amos says, “I tried to get you to tell each other.”

I giggle through my tears. “Why are you even here? You don’t even have my tea.”

Greg sighs, glancing over his shoulder and then back to me. “Because if this went well, I wanted to do something with a witness.”

My eyes widen. “Oh, hell no! We’re not having—”

“Not that. Christ, Simone. There’s no way it’d be physically possible.”

Amos shakes his head, cringing.

I laugh again as Greg shifts and looks uneasy. “I know we didn’t have a normal road to marriage. We skipped a lot. Like before you mentioned anything about your dad, I’d ask you out after our two weeks. And then again. And again.”

“Really? You wanted me as your girlfriend?”

“Yeah. The night after first seeing you here, I calmed down and realized I was so worked up because of how I felt about you. I mean, it was anger and lust in one cheap shitshow. Despite me telling you to leave Durham, there’s no way I would’ve let you. I would’ve fucking done anything to keep you here. Even guilting you.”

Knowing what he’s referring to, I ask, “Then what?”

“I don’t know how long we would’ve dated, but I hope it would’ve led here. So, I have a question for you.”

I fold my hands beneath my chin and whisper, “Really? What?”

Amos walks over and dumps something into Greg’s hand. What the hell is happening? Greg turns back to me, and I hear a little tinkling, almost like Kelso’s voice. “Simone, I love you. Fuck an annulment or a divorce. I’m your husband, buttercup. I don’t want to go another day without us truly committing to each other. I know we have some things to work through and need a place to live, but I want our marriage. More than any damn thing. We’ll figure out the rest. So, will you stay married to me? For real and forever?”

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