Page 167 of The 21-Day Boyfriend
I can’t fight it, because he’s right. I never said anything else, never gave him any reason to think otherwise.
“I swear I never meant to make you feel like that.”
He nods slowly, then takes a deep breath. “Our twenty-one days are up.”
“What?”
“Our deal. Twenty-one days.”
“No…”
“They ran out three days ago.”
“Sean…”
“We said we’d each go our separate ways, right?”
“We did.”
“Good luck, Eric.”
I take a step back, defeated. “Good luck to you, too.”
* * *
“You’re just goingto accept defeat like that?” Jake asks me, sitting at the bar in the restaurant hours later. Mila is sitting with him too, on her break. She doesn’t seem to hate me. Actually, she seems to want to help me.
“You can’t just throw in the towel,” Sean’s sister says, encouraging. “I know that deep down, he knew you were being genuine.”
“That’s not how it seemed.” He slammed the door in my face, after all. “What am I supposed to do? I’ve tried talking to him, telling him I’m sorry, but he’s stubborn. He’s convinced it was all just pretend.”
That I used him for a quick fuck, as others did. That I don’t really care about him. That I’m not…
“You have to show him you’re genuine, not just tell him. Actions speak louder than words,” Jake says, looking at Mila with a smile.
I’m happy that the two of them have managed to sort things out, at least.
“Show him you miss him, you want him. And be serious about it,” Mila says.
Jake’s hand moves instinctively to take Mila’s, and she smiles.
At least something good has come out of this whole mess.
“You have to make him understand that there’s no one else for him,” Jake continues. “That you’re only his.”
“And how am I supposed to…?” I start, lifting my gaze. My eyes fall onto the glass wall at the far end of the room, leading to the kitchen.
“Do you think he’s got it?” I hear Mila ask.
“I think we’re getting there,” Jake says. “What do you think, Eric? Are we getting there?”
I look at my friend and smile, grateful for his support, for his friendship over the years, for never turning his back on me even after I tried so shamefully to hit on him. Maybe is not all lost; maybe I have one winning card left in my hand.
“I might know a way…” I say, anxious but ready, certain that I want to take this leap for him – with him.
I’m certain that I want Sean Quinn in my life – and this time, for real.
43Sean
