Page 99 of Just Friends
“But …” My jaw clenched. “I can’t. She’s soperfect, and I just keep thinking”—I choked as the words struggled to fight their way out—“that I’m not ready, that I don’tdeserveher yet, and if I just wait alittlebit longer for the time to be right, then maybe someday—”
“No!” he yelled indignantly.
“No?”
“Don’t you see? You wait longer, you lose her. Forever. Then youreallymiss out.”
“Yeah …” I stared at my feet and frowned. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“You have puck,” he said, out of nowhere.
I was sure I’d misheard him. “What? Puck?”
“Yes. You have the puck. You are wide open at the point. Goalie is screened. Quick! What you do?”
I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Um, I check real quick to see if someone else has a better shot—”
“NO!” He grabbed hisvenikand lashed it against my side. “You have the PUCK. You are WIDE OPEN. What you DO, Big Rig?”
“I—I should take the shot?”
“Da!Yes!” He beamed. “You take the shot.Take the shot, Big Rig. Okay?”
“Take the shot,” I repeated, testing the words out, tasting them on my tongue. “Butwhatshot? I don’t really understand what you’re saying I should do.”
Niko answered me with a question. “Do you want to be with her, yes or no? Or do you want to be single, so you can get girls, perfect tens, like at pool?”
I stared at him, long and hard, making sure thatonlythe absolute truth spilled from my lips.
“Piper,” I said at last. “I want Piper.”
He smiled. “Then what do you say, so she knows you are serious?”
“That I really want to be with her.” My throat wentgulp.“And I want to give commitment a shot.” As soon as I said it, my belly shook with silent laughter. It was funny how those words always scared the shit out of me, but now that I’d said them aloud, I felt lighter, like I’d been freed.
But now I had an entirely different problem—she could reject me. Again.But this time, she couldtrulyreject me—not just turn me down for sex.
“What if she says no?” I asked. “That’s a hell of a lot to throw at someone who’s only been my friend all this time. Especially considering we’ve only kissed.”
He shrugged. “Is possible. She might say no. You been friends for long time—maybetoolong.” He chuckled. “You know. You really wait too long to take shot, Big Rig.”
“Ugh. You’re not helping.”
He stopped laughing. “Piper might say no, Big Rig,” he reiterated. “Just like shot might get blocked. Or goalie make big save. That’s okay. Important thing is, you take shot. Because it is right play.”
“Yeah.” I bobbed my head while I processed his advice. “Yeah, you’re right.”
My mind went a million miles a minute as I tried to figure out what, and how, I’d tell Piper all this. The more I thought about it, the more vulnerable, clueless, and ridiculous I felt.
“Damn. It sounds so easy to say ‘I’m gonna tell her,’ but I’ve got no ideawhatto say to her or how to say it.”
“Easy. Bring her tobanya,” Niko joked. “Kidding. Tell her same thing you tell me.”
With all my sweat drained, toxins purged, and a deeply buried truth finally pulled out of me, ourbanyasession reached a whole new level. I felt lighter, looser, and about five years younger. Niko and I were all smiles, cracking jokes about anything and everything, though our talks frequently circled right back to Piper.
“And I gotta tell you, bud,” I said. “When you asked me if you could bring Piper here as your date?” I laughed through clenched teeth. “Not gonna lie. I kinda wanted to kill you.”
He smirked. “Da, da. I know.”
