Page 54 of Love Undiscovered
Chapter 15
Chance
I head to the restroom after Remi leaves me on the dance floor, mentally kicking myself the entire time. Fucking idiot. Why did I say that? It was stupid. I wanted to get a rise out of her. It was going too good, we were getting along, so I wanted to get more sass out of her.
I splash water on my face, give myself a little pep talk in the mirror, and head back to the table. Alex is there signing the bill.
“You owe me $170.”
“Where are the girls?” I ask.
“They left, so thanks.”
“Thanks?”
“You pissed Remi off, she took Harley and left.”
“How long ago?” I ask, thinking maybe I can catch her.
“They’re gone, dude. What the fuck did you do?”
“I said something stupid to Remi,” I say.
“What?” he asks.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Well, now I do.”
“It was something stupid, and it didn’t make her feel very good about herself. And I regret it.” We start walking toward the front door of the restaurant.
He puts his arm around my shoulders “Well, as long as you regret it, buddy. That’s all that counts, right? Makes ruining both our nights a-okay,” he says dryly, patting one shoulder, hard.
“I apologized, she just didn’t want to hear it.”
“I didn’t call her an ice queen for nothing,” he says.
If only he knew the half of it.
“Well, on a positive note,” he says. “I’m that much closer to twenty-five hundred buckaroos. So, thank you for that.”
Fuck.
I’d actually lost sight of the bet at some point toward the end of the night. What the hell was wrong with me? I cannot afford to lose focus. Literally. Because I don’t have an extra two thousand five hundred dollars. If I did, I wouldn’t have needed to get into this bet in the first place.
We say goodbye, and I order an Uber to get home. I didn’t ride my bike because, if I’m honest, I wasn’t quite sure how the night was going to play out. I had no idea who I’d be meeting or if I’d feel the need to drink excessively to get through the evening. I like to leave my options open.
I go to text Remi from the car on the way home and realize I don’t have her number. I go to text Kat and realize it’s too late to text her. Then remember that of course Alex has Remi’s number. But I’m not sure he’s going to be willing to help me out like that. Especially since he now thinks he’s that much closer to winning.
I make a mental note to text Kat in the morning for it. Then sit back and close my eyes for the remainder of my trip home.
* * *
I go for a run in the morning with Hudson. He loves it when we run on the beach, biting at the waves as they come in. Not quite understanding the ebb and flow of the water, thinking it’s chasing and then running from him somehow.
We run extra-long today, punishing myself for being an ass to Remi. When we get back to the apartment, it’s all I can do to collapse on my couch with a beer. I turn on football and settle in, but get called in to the precinct a few minutes later. I jump in the shower and am out the door, having forgotten my mental note to get Remi’s number.
It takes me longer at the crime scene I’m called into than it should have, so I barely have time to grab Hudson and get to my parents’ house in time for Sunday dinner. We do this every other Sunday, get together as a family for dinner. Two of my sisters, Audrey and Eliza, are married, Audrey is pregnant, and Eliza has a kid. My other sister, Charlotte (Charlie for short) is single, like me, and seemingly happy about it, also like me. But when everyone is in attendance, dinner can get pretty crazy. Especially when I drive the work sedan and bring Hudson with me.
