Page 108 of The One I Hate
My three friends smile at each other.
“What? Someone say something.”
“You’re in love,” Oliver says.
Now that’s hilarious. “No, I’m not. We haven’t even been together two weeks. Officially. Or unofficially. Hell at this time last month she hated me and I hated that she hated me.”
“What’s the old saying? There’s a thin line between love and hate?”
I shake my head at Wes. “That’s not it. Do I care about her? Yes. Do I want to spend every day with her? Also yes. Do I want to kiss and hold her all the time? Of course. If she left right now do I feel like I’d die? Yes. But…”
Oliver slowly smiles. “I think he’s getting there guys…”
Wait. Am I? Is this?
“Holy shit, I’m in love.”
Wes claps his hands together. “There it is.”
Wow. Love? I wasn’t expecting that.
“No,” I say. “It’s too soon. Way too soon.”
Shane huffs out a laugh. “Simon Banks, the man who has made his entire personality acting before thinking, all of a sudden is worried that he might be jumping into something, or declaring something, too soon? You once bought a house to sell that hadn’t even been built yet.”
“That’s just money. It’s just…I don’t know…I thought you had to know someone for years before you fell in love?”
“I knew I loved Izzy the moment I saw her.”
I shake my head at Oliver. “You don’t count thirty-four proposals.”
“I didn’t know what I felt toward Amelia was love at first,” Shane says.
“What made you realize it?”
“The second she walked toward me in her prom dress.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t need puppy love bullshit. Wes, please, help me.”
Wes sets his beer down and rests his elbows on his knees. “I’ve been in love twice. And I can say with certainty and proof that no two loves are the same. No two timelines are the same. Simon, love is different for everyone. People show it differently. It has its own tempo, and it’s never the same for anyone else. You just have to ask yourself a few questions.”
“What are those?”
“Is your life better with Charlie in it?”
“Yes. Without question.”
“Does the thought of her not in your life physically pain you?”
“So much I don’t want to think about it.”
“And finally, can you see a future with her? And don’t say yes just because it’s what you think you should say. Close your eyes and think about it.”
I do as he says, because I was about to say yes. As soon as I shut my eyes, I see Charlie holding our daughter—because yes, we’re going to have a daughter—rocking her in the room I already designated as the nursery. I walk over to her, watching in awe as she nurses Baby Bug, and place a kiss on her forehead. I catch the glimpse of a ring I’ve apparently put on her finger. Which sends me into another vision as Charlie walks down the aisle to me. The guys are standing next to me as we pledge our love for each other.
Holy shit, I’m in love…
“Aw guys…our little boy is all grown up.”
