Page 37 of Blindsided By Fake Love

My emotions are all over the place, and I can’t think straight. Cole’s and Mike’s words aren’t processing.

“Beau, just hear me out for a second,” Mike starts but pauses for me to object. When I don’t say anything, he continues. “You told me the night you went to The Glowing Fork—”

“The Glowing what?!” Cole spits out.

“The Glowing Fork,” I mumble. “It’s a restaurant in town.”

“Bro, if you’re ever in Starhaven, you need to bring Noelle. It serves the best comfort food, and it’s basically like eating and stargazing—”

“Do you mind if you tell Cole about that later?” I mutter, my voice hoarse.

“Oh yeah. Sorry, Beau.” Mike clears his throat. “As I was saying. Since your date, things have been going well, right? You’ve been talking every day, and you have dinner plans for tonight, yes?”

“Yes,” I rub my face with my hand. “But—”

“No buts,” Mike says. “The answer is yes. You need to go to dinner and talk to her. Don’t let this be like that summer.”

“I’m not sure that’s—”

“Beau, I know what it’s like to make a mistake you regret and have to live with for years,” Cole says, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice.

Cole and his wife Noelle were dating in college. He intended to marry her, but then life happened, and Cole let her go. It was one of his biggest regrets.

Then last Christmas, he and Noelle got trapped together in a blizzard and were forced to talk it out. They cleared the air, made up, and now they’re married. But it was a decade of pain and regret.

“You’re being given a second chance,” Cole continues. “Do you want to be so stubborn that you let part of a conversation you overheard be how you make a decision?”

“Are you going to walk away without fighting for what you want?” Mike questions. “Again?”

Again?

The word hangs in the air staring me in the face, waiting to crush me.

And it comes down to one simple question: Do I want to lose Kit…again?

WhenIpullupin front of Jack’s house, I see Missy Samuels and her daughter, Nicky, sitting on the porch.

“Beau,” Missy greets me with a massive smile and gets up from her rocking chair to give me a hug as I walk up the stairs. “We were just talking about you.”

“All good, I hope.” I chuckle and give them a half-hearted smile. Nicky gets up and follows her mom’s lead.

“Oh yes,” Nicky says. “In the short amount of time you’ve been helping Jack, we’ve seen a huge difference. The boy actually comes home and does more than grunt at us.”

The ache in my heart loosens at hearing this, and my smile brightens slightly. “I’m glad. I get so much out of helping the kids. Even if they do give me a run for my money.”

“Do you want to sit and talk with us?” Missy points to the third chair, and I decline as they sit back down.

“Is Jack home?”

“He’s not,” Missy’s brow furrows. “Were you supposed to meet with him today? I can call him.”

“No, we weren’t supposed to meet up today. I was just curious to see how things were going after our conversation the last time I saw him.”

“You mean the ‘duck’ talk?” Nicky says, making us chuckle.

“That would be the one.” I give them a lopsided grin. I was thinking more about how things were going with Stephanie, but maybe I need to be reminded of the duck story myself. “Has it helped at all?”

“Has it helped?!” Missy and Nicky yell together.

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