Page 100 of Just Friends
“Yeah? So you were doing that to fuck with me, then, weren’t you?” I gave him a playful shove. “Same way you fuck with Reavo, huh?”
“No, no. I only do that to prove to you.”
“Prove what to me?”
“That you in love with Piper, man.”
I bristled and puffed at the word—love?Really? But the more I thought about it—the more I turned that concept around in my head, the closer I examined my feelings—I realized I couldn’t argue with it. I wanted Piper by my side forever. The thought of her ending up with anyone else made me sick to my stomach. Hell, the thought of losingher made me question how I could even continue on—I’d be fucking wrecked.
Niko was right.
I love Piper.
“Jesus.” I smacked my forehead. “Holy fuck. Iamin love with her.”
And just like that, the prospect of ‘taking my shot’ became that much more frightening.
“Hey, shewerycute,” he reassured me, as if that were all it took to fall in love with someone.
This time, I let it slide. “She iswerycute, isn’t she.”
“AndWERYnice in bikini, too,” he said, gesturing as if he had two big handfuls of boob on his chest.
“Watch it.” I held up a finger in caution. He must’ve seen her running around the resort in her swimsuit—the lucky bastard. I hadn’t seen her since she left me in the room earlier. “She is a total smokeshow, though, eh?”
“Smokeshow,” he agreed enthusiastically. “You and her?Werynice looking couple.” He jabbed his elbow into my ribs. “Make beautiful babies.”
“Babies?” A shocked laugh escaped me. “Whoa, bud, slow down. Nobody’s trying to make any babies just yet.”
“Is true, though.”
We sat quietly in the heat, and a question came to me.
“Okay, I’m curious,” I said. “Why’d you think I was in love with Piper? Is it just because of all the jokes everyone makes, or …?”
“Everybody make joke, everybody laugh,” Niko said, rolling his eyes. “But they do not know.Iknow,” he said, pounding his chest proudly, “because I watch my sister and Derek fall in love. They try to hide it from me, but doterriblejob. You and Piper? Same thing. Except you do terrible job hiding it from each other.”
I chuckled. “Fair.”
“Only difference is,” Niko began in an amused growl, “Derek did not wait five years to make move on Katya!”
I threw my head back and laughed—and then I slugged him hard on the shoulder. “Hey, fuck you, man. I had my reasons, okay? The time wasn’t right.”
“I know, I know. You love to wait for better shot.” He shook his head. “But you don’t score goals by always waiting.”
“You’re right, man,” I said in a peaceful surrender. “You’re absolutely right.”
“About Piper or hockey?” he asked.
“Piper,” I said. “But hockey, too. And hey, tell you what. I’m gonna start shooting the puck more next season.”
“Yeah? Good. We need you to score more goals.” Niko grinned. “I can’t beonlyDevil who score goals.” He clutched at his lower back and yelped as if he’d suddenly gotten injured. “Might hurt my back, carrying weight of whole team.”
I had to laugh. “You’resucha dick, Niko.”
The timer buzzed.
“Okay,banyais over,” he said.
