Page 113 of Off Season

He nods. “Takes one to know one.”

I wink at him before continuing. “I know you two are the real deal. At a minimum, you’ll make it to your reception in a few months, but more likely, it will last forever. I love you both. Wishing you a lifetime of blinding happiness and explosive orgasms. Cheers.”

Everyone clinks their glasses, and we spend a fun night celebrating our friends.

CHEETAH

“You’re in love with her.”

I turn to Gemma at the lunch table and exhale a long breath. “I am.”

She grabs my hand as tears fill her eyes. “I’m so happy for you. No one deserves their happily ever after more than you.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s what I’m getting with her. She continues to say that we’re casual. Hell, she encourages me to sleep with other women. She claims she’ll never want more with me or anyone. I feel like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Why am I doing this to myself?”

Gemma considers my words. “I think she loves you too. Maybe she doesn’t realize it, but I see it in the way she looks at you.”

“This isn’t a romance book, Gem. It’s real life. We’re not going to gaze lovingly at each other and all our shit melts away. She’s got some real issues. I gave her the name of thetherapist you emailed me, but she tossed it aside and took offense that I thought something was wrong with her. She’s kind of a dichotomy. She purposefully acts crazy but fears people thinking of her as crazy.”

She nods. “It’s a self-defense mechanism.”

I sigh. “This is all new for me. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m giving her what she needs. I’m pathetically thirty and have never had a real girlfriend. Not one I truly cared about.”

“I think you handle her beautifully. We had some tension that first morning but then you made her happy all afternoon. You guys were very loved up at dinner and the following day.”

I twist my lips. “I suppose. We were in a bubble though. Now that we’re home, it’s back to keeping me at arm’s length. I have no experience and certainly no success with this. I don’t know what to do. She’s basically my first non-Twitter Bang.”

“What’s a Twitter Bang?” she asks.

“Having sex with someone before the two of you have exchanged a hundred and forty words.”

Gemma bursts out laughing and then starts typing on her phone. “Love it. I’m using that.” She places her phone back on the table and looks at me. “Does anyone have success until they findthe one? I had zero relationship success until Trey. They were all a bunch of disasters on varying levels. I was about your age when Trey and I got together.”

I run my fingers through my hair. “I’m nervous, Gem. I think I’m going to get hurt. It’s like I know what’s coming, but I can’t seem to help myself. Maybe I need to hold back a little for my own sanity.”

She rubs my back. “If you protect your heart, you can never trulygive it away.”

I raise my eyebrow. “That was very romance book author of you.”

She giggles. “I suppose. You know I’m a romantic at heart.”

“I don’t think I know how to be romantic.”

Her mouth widens. “Are you crazy? I think you setting up those dance classes because she always wanted to do that as a kid is one of the most romantic things I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Really? I never thought of it that way. I just remembered her saying that once.”

“What do you think romance is, Cruz? Understanding the needs of your partner and giving it to them is the very definition.”

“I do it because it makes me happy to make her happy.”

She clutches her heart. “So fucking sweet. I’m swooning. I’m sure she is too.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe it’s time to be an adult and have an adult conversation with her. About what you are right now. Not what you were when you started.”

She’s not wrong.

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