Page 110 of Getting Over You

Holy fuck, saying it out loud makes me feel like I can finally breathe. Like I can finally feel my heart beating and see this world after flatlining. I’m alive now. I have a pulse because of her.

Whatever I was doing before certainly wasn’tliving. It didn’t feel like this—like she’s all that matters, like living without her is as good as dead. Like I’ve found the one girl in this world that looks at the mess I am and sees something worth fixing.

I might be worth fixing.

But her? That girl is worth everything. She’s got no fixable pieces because she’s crafted herself into perfection. All on her own.

Nothing matters to me without Gigi. I can’t be repaired completely without all of my pieces.

“Whoa.” She halts, turning to face me. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re incredibly late to that party.”

“No, I—I just realized.”

“Congratulations,” she deadpans. “We’ve known. The only one who wasn’t aware you were falling in love with her was you.”

I gape at her.

“So, how does it feel?” she sing-songs. “Being in love?”

“Shitty,” I groan. “The girl I love is a plane ride away.”

“That’s no match for love,” Rory chides. “Cade, come on. Drive.”

“I can guarantee she doesn’t want to see me.”

Rory considers this. “Maybe.”

“I’ve got a bigger obstacle than figuring out how to get to Gigi,” I tell her. A divot forms in between her eyebrows. “I’ve got a date tonight.”

My first official date, and I’m ending things with the girl right after.

I never thought I’d see the day.

I wear the same suit I wore when I went out with Gigi. It was honestly unintentional, but seeing the way Ava looks at me in it makes me miss my princess all the more.

I take Ava to the same restaurant Gigi took us to on our practice date, and for a moment, I consider ending it before we walk in the place, right there on the sidewalk.

But then I picture Gigi, her hand on that hip, rolling her eyes at me as she hears that I ditched out on a date, completely abandoning everything she taught me about how to treat a woman properly. And decide instead to lean into commitment, but Gigi doesn’t know about that part.

Not yet.

Ava and I get dinner and make small talk, her telling me about being a bank teller in Chicago, me explaining bits and pieces of my woes about the shop, how I came to Geddington Beach with the intention of running a business. I’m going through the motions for the sake of saying I did.

I can’t disappoint Gigi again.

When the waitress comes and asks about dessert, I allow Ava to lead, like Gigi taught me.Let her decide when the date’s over,she said.Not you. It’s inconsiderate. Rude.

I certainly don’t want Gigi to think of me as inconsiderate.

We share a piece of cheesecake, though I can barely eat it. I want to get the bitter end out of the way, rip it off like a Band-Aid. Ava leads me out of the restaurant by the hand, and when she stops right outside the door, her golden eyes batting as she turns, wrapping her arms around my neck, I can’t hold out any longer.

“You’re great,” I say gently, easing myself away from her. “I had a great time tonight, but I can’t keep seeing you.”

She looks baffled as she settles on her heels. “Did I do something?”

“No!” I think of Gigi, her poor broken heart. “No, you didn’t. It’s all me. I, uh…” Fuck, this is hard. “I jumped into things after a fight with this girl, and—”

“And now you and your girlfriend are fine, so you don’t need extras?” Ava guesses. “Right?”

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