Page 28 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 1

“Absolutely. Have a good night.”

As soon as she’s out of earshot, Harrison says, “Holy shit, that’s quite a look.”

“Yeah, it is.” But I don’t want to spend my time talking about Dalen. “I promised my mom we’d stay for another hour.”

“We can go upstairs to burn some time?”See?Harrison gets me. He also has to deal with the same rules in his family, so he’s learned to work around them. “And yes, I did greet your parents. Cookie’s in her element, isn’t she?”

I laugh. “Ah, yes. These things don’t stress her. They invigorate her.” I shake my head. She has endless energy. “Grab some food, and we’ll head up.”

“On it.”

We hang out in my room as we always did—me taking the recliner and him settling on the couch. It’s an ugly-ass chair, but it’s so damn comfortable that I can’t get rid of it. I kick the footrest up. It feels like we’re teenagers again when we hang out like this. I miss it. And I know he regrets not going to Stanford. His dad is even more of a hard-ass than my dad.Without the benefit of having Cookie to soften the blow.“Maybe it’s time to approach your dad again.”

Harrison finishes his appetizer plate and grabs the plate of desserts to polish off next. “He won’t budge. I need two years of actively selling real estate under my belt in some other office before he’ll bring me into his. The first two years are garbage, and he’d rather not smell the stench of my humiliation, as he puts it so kindly.”

“That sucks.”

After taking a drink, he lowers his glass with little left inside it. “How do things stand with you and your dad?”

“Good as long as I’m fulfilling his plan.” The thought has me finishing my drink as well. “I’m flying to New York next week. Andrew says it’s a good opportunity.”

He studies me, searching for the cracks in my story to decipher how I really feel about it. “Why you?”

“It’s a company we’re in talks with to buy. They want to meet one of us, and Dad thought it would be a good job for me since I’ll also be delivering the contracts.”

“Ah, I see. A takeover.”

Kicking back, I set my glass down on a table beside me. “No, first, we’ll ask nicely.”

He chuckles and starts munching on a mini piece of cheesecake. “How kind of you.”

“I haven’t mentioned it since there aren’t a lot of details and it might fall through, but my dad and Andrew want to be in New York. They want the address and the presence. If all goes well, talk of moving me out there has been tossed around.”

His eyes narrow just enough to notice as he seems to mull over what I said. “Is this something you want?”

“I’d miss surfing.”

Taking a bite of cookie, he chews, and then asks, “And your best friend?”

“Let’s not go that far,” I reply, teasing. “Of course, man. It’s not a done deal, but they’d make it worth my while to pursue.”

“There’s a lot of valuable real estate in New York.”

That’s my friend. Nodding, I add, “Sure is, and I like the way you think.”

He gets up, snooping through stuff that’s been sitting around since I was a preteen. Holding an MVP trophy from my junior year in high school, he asks, “Isn’t New York where Tatum and Natalie were from?”

“Sure is,” I repeat my earlier answer, suddenly wondering what the chances are that I would see her again. One in eight-plus million. Guess that settles it.

What’s the point in hoping when the odds aren’t in my favor?

My head is finally getting the message, but now I’m dealing with my stupid heart. And that hasn’t received the memo.

10

Natalie

I underestimatedNick and that night in Catalina.

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