Page 52 of The Art of Falling in Love with Your Enemy
“So.” As if he could read my mind, the older man pokes me in my side. “Have you told her yet?”
I can’t make eye contact at first. Instead, I slowly move my head side to side, in a negative way. When I finally glance up, Dubs’s concerned look makes my stomach hitch.
He lets out a long exhale of air. “You’re gonna mess this up, Wright. I’m telling you now because I’m watching it happen.”
He’s right. I know he’s right as much as he knows he’s right. “I tried all weekend to get her alone. I even had a chance to tell her, but she was in such a good mood I didn’t want to ruin things.”
“You call her now and tell her you’re coming over after work. It’s that simple.”
Easy for the person to say who isn’t the one in trouble. “She’s going to be furious with me.”
“Furious? That may be a bit dramatic,” Dubs says with a laugh. “She may be peeved at first, but if your intention is real, then she’ll figure it out.”
“Dubs, I’ve never met anyone like her in my life.” Running my fingers through my hair, I fight the urge to tug on the strands. “She makes me crazy, spinning like a top and out-of-control crazy, but then she says something that makes me laugh.”
“And I bet you laugh with her like you’ve never laughed with anyone else…am I right?”
I hold my thumb and forefinger together in the air. “Little bit.”
“If memory serves me, you two met and didn’t get along.”
Chuckling, I put my coffee down and shove my hands in my pockets. “No, we didn’t. After that first meeting, she would cross the street if she saw me coming. I once caught her hiding behind a bread display at the grocery store, just so she didn’t have to walk past me. She has no clue I saw her, though.”
“Oh, young love.” Dubs chortles, his phone going off in his pocket. “Believe it or not, but these are the days you’ll look back on fondly…long after you two are married.”
Dubs’s phone goes off again.
I point to his pocket. “You need to get that?”
“I’ll look to see who it is in a sec; I’m busy talking to you.” He grins as the phone beeps again. “So. What are you gonna do to fix things?”
“I’m going to call her and make a plan to see her tonight.”
“Perfect.” As his phone chimes one more time, the old man looks to the ceiling. “For the love of…who is trying to get ahold of me?”
Ignoring Dubs as he mutters to his phone, I pace the room, repeating myself. “I am going to tell Etta the truth. Tonight, I will see her and tell her that while my asking her out may have started as a bet, it’s turned into more for me…”
Dubs holds his hand up. “But, Zac, wait,—”
Shaking my head, I won’t let him interrupt. “No, it has turned into more. And I want her to know so she can get it through that thick skull of hers I only took the bet to date her…”
“Remember I told you I put in those security cameras so I’d be alerted on my phone when someone was on the property? Well, I think you should hit pause and maybe…”
“Dubs,” I say, spinning around to face him. “I can’t hit pause. She’s going to think the only reason I asked her on a date is so I can win a baseball card from my brother. Who does that?”
As the last word trips out of my mouth, Dubs dips his head and holds up his phone. I take a step forward to look at what he’s showing me on his screen. The video isn’t the best quality, but I see a figure in a striped sweater standing outside the doorway of the room I’m in, right now, with Dubs.
Recognition hits me square in the stomach as Dubs lowers his eyes to the floor.
Behind me, a voice pipes up at the same time the figure on the screen steps into the room with us.
“Yeah.” Etta is seething, her voice drawn and on edge, straightening her striped sweater as she walks up to where I stand. “Who does that?”
* * *
Etta paces the garage bay slowly. I’d managed to talk her into listening to me and not taking off and leaving, like she wanted to do. Dubs had even closed up shop and left, giving us complete privacy from him and from any possible clients popping in.
“Can I explain what happened?” My palms are slick with anxiety perspiration, not excited perspiration. “I’ve been trying to talk to you about this for a few days now.”
