Page 194 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 1

“I’ve learned a thing or two from you.”

She briefly looks down, but then on the end of an exhale, she says, “I feel like we’ve got the odds in our favor. We’re two for two, after all.”

“Which two are we speaking of?”

“Number one on your list since that’s how we met and the science fair project that connects us.”

I think she’s right. The odds are in our favor. “I wouldn’t be opposed to taking you to Vegas.”

She stops abruptly. “To get married?” she asks, her voice pitching.

“No,” I say, my hands flying in front of me. “No. No. No. To the tables. Gambling. We said the odds are in our favor?—”

Laughing, she lowers her hand from her chest. “Yeah, I may need a little romance in my life, but I don’t tempt the fates with that commitment nonsense. So Vegas, Atlantic City, and all the other quickie marriage locations are out of the question.”

One minute I’m not sure how to move forward in the relationship, and now she’s rejecting a marriage proposal that I never intended. I should be used to this craziness, yet I’m not.

Rascal is chasing his tail while Juni watches him. I sit down again, and ask, “What do you mean you don’t tempt the fates with commitment nonsense?”

Her smile fades as she paces to the other side of the grass patch, taking Rascal with her. “Look, I know I have issues. Commitment is one of them. More long-term, to be specific.”

“Then what are we doing?” The question seems to throw her as she shifts her head. “Two for two and all that. How do you believe in destiny and not believe in commitment?”

She moves the leash from one hand to the other, and Rascal lies at her feet.

“My parents showed me that being too passionate about anything always ends badly. They chose their work over me. If I allow every Tom, Dick, or Harry into my heart, where will that leave me? Alone, just like Karl did.”

“What about a Drew? How does a Drew fit into your heart?” When she can’t answer or chooses not to, I add, “We all have our issues. Mine are on full display, but I’m working on them.”

“I took the job to work on mine. It may not seem like much to you, but ten weeks is a long time for me.”

“Who’s Karl?”

“He’s the one who told me my parents were dead. He’s the one who stepped into the spotlight and presented my research and discoveries as his own. And I let him. I stood there at the edge of the spotlight in too much shock to say a word.”

“He won?”

She nods. That someone she cared about could so easily betray her makes me so angry. And perhaps that’s the reason for some of her tears yesterday. But I understand betrayal—not quite to the extent of how that bastard treated Juni though. But I understand how that can skew self-worth. How it stays with you for years after. “My high school girlfriend cheated on me. I was the most popular kid in school and she still cheated. This may sound cliché, but it wasn’t about me. Karl stealing your moment wasn’t about you, but you’ve willingly carried that burden for years. It’s not yours to carry anymore.”

“What happened with the high school girlfriend? Did you make amends?”

“Fuck no. I’m a guy. I started dating college girls my junior year in high school, fucking every one of them, and made sure she knew.”

“That sounds healthy,” she deadpans.

“Yeah, real healthy.” I was only seventeen and had the brain of a gnat. Clearly. I walk over to the side of the patch where she retreated earlier and take the leash from her. “We’re friends now.”

“You are?”

“She was fighting her own demons back then. We ran into each other a few years ago and tried to date again, but we both realized we got it right the first time when we broke up.” Dalen is complicated, but the one thing that’s not is where she stands in my life. “We’re friends now. You know why? Because I didn’t feel about her the way I do about you.”

She comes to my side and wraps her arms around my middle. “I like you, too, Drew.”

Words don’t always come the easiest when emotions are involved. Although I hadn’t told her how much I like her directly, I’m glad she understands my language. I wrap my arm around her, holding her close, and say, “Karl sounds like a real asshole.”

“He is,” she replies, laughing. She bends down to pet Rascal. He’s looking sleepy lying in the grass. Glancing back up at me, she asks, “You know that proposition I made?”

“Trading your help on the list for a date? I think I’m still coming out ahead on that one.”

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