Page 71 of Win You Over
“Hey, Finn. Not yet. We’re heading to the airport soon and will be back late tomorrow night.”
I watch a swimmer out in the bay, popping up and then dipping back below the water as they swim from one end of the cove to the other.
“Good. Good. You worked out how you’re planning this whole breakup thing?”
A hollowness sits in the pit of my stomach at the implication.
“About that,” I say, walking further down to the beach, my feet sinking into the sand when I step off the path.
“Holden and I are together. For real.”
Finn is silent for a moment.
“But,” he starts. “You don’t date.” Confusion is clear in his voice.
I sit down on a small dune, my free hand playing with the sand, watching the grains flit through the gaps of my fingers.
“I didn’t. But that was before him. He’s…” I don’t continue my sentence, not sure how open to be with my best friend.
“So, you’re actually dating him?” There’s a bite in his voice when he asks. “The guy who never has a serious relationship is changing his ways for the loser.”
“Finn,” I growl. “He’s not a loser. He’s amazing. You’d see that if you actually gave him a chance.”
“That’s why you’re calling, isn’t it? To tell me we can’t be friends unless I accept your little boy toy.” There’s sadness mixed with the anger in his voice, so I don’t react to the way he speaks about Holden. Finn and I have a long history and I don’t want to lose him.
“Finn, that’s not what I’m saying. I just need you to accept that he and I are together. And I’m happy. Isn’t that good enough for you?”
He’s quiet, before he sighs and says, “I guess.”
“Nothing changes between us. You’re still my best friend.”
He chuckles, but it’s not a nice sound. “Everything changes, Remington. You’ve barely had time for me these last two weeks. You won’t have time for me when you’re back and –”
“I will,” I protest.
“But things can’t be like they were,” he points out, and it’s clear to me what he’s referring to.
“No, Finn. They can’t be exactly as they were.”
There’s silence over the line again, and I take my phone away from my ear to see if we’re still connected. When I return it to my ear, Finn speaks.
“Why now?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“You never wanted to date, even when there was someone right in front of you who wanted to be with you. Why now? What does he have that...” he hesitates and I try to work out what he’s saying. Who was right in front of me? It can’t be him. He’s never mentioned us being more than friends with benefits. “What does he have that others don’t?”
I don’t need time to mull over the answer.
“It’s not about what he has. It’s about who he is and how he makes me feel. It’s not something I can quantify with words, Finn. It’s something I know because I feel it.”
“Okay,” he replies, a note of resignation in the solitary word.
“Okay? So you’ll give him a chance? Treat him like you would any of our other friends?”
“Sure,” he says. “Look, I have to go.”
He hangs up the phone before I have a chance to say anything more, and the hollow feeling in my stomach grows into a giant chasm.
