Page 78 of Maverick
But hearing her perspective on me, and on herself, has shifted that.
“So none of us know what we’re doing,” I say.
“Nope.”
“He sure doesn’t know what he’s doing,” I say. “Because I think he loves me, and he’s a coward.”
“That’s probably true. But you know, you’re the bravest person I know. You told off mom and dad, and you totally left and went and became a champion and something else entirely. So you just need to keep being that person.”
I laugh. “I tried that. I declared my love for him and everything, and look where it got me.”
“Well,” she said slowly. “You really think he loves you, right?”
“I hope so.”
“And he got you tickets to this bull riding championship?”
“Sweet tickets,” I say. “Which are very expensive.”
“You should go. Looking hot. It is what Sandra Bullock would do.”
“I wrinkle my nose. “I… Well… It is what Sandra Bullock would do. At least, rom com Sandra Bullock.”
“Well, she is the only Sandra Bullock in question at this moment. And I think that you have to go. You have to show him what is missing. You have to remind him who the fuck you are.”
I turned toward her. “You know what? You’re right. You are absolutely right. But you know what else rom com Sandra Bullock would never do? She would never marry a guy she wasn’t wildly in love with. Harmony, if you’re not wildly in love with him, you can’t marry him. You can’t just follow mom and dad’s choreographed plan down the aisle if it’s not what you want.”
She laughs nervously. “Well, sure, but…”
“I’m the black sheep,” I say. “And no matter what you do, it’s never going to blow up quite as badly as what I do.”
“I’m not sure about that. I think they like him better than they like me.”
And I realize then, the unbearable weight of expectation that she and I have lived under all this time. It’s stupid. It’s unfair. Because we are both really talented people, and maybe different parents could’ve fostered that in a slightly more productive manner instead of making us feel like we had to be clones or we were failing.”
“If we have to live together for a while, we could do that,” I say. “But you’re not going to be on your own.”
She reaches across the space to me. “Neither are you.”
No. I won’t be. I’ll have her. Dallas, Colt. I’ll have all the things that I’ve been working toward building.
Even if I don’t have Maverick.
But I’m still not done trying.
I’m going to do just like Harmony said. I’m going to show him what it looks like to be brave.
I’m going to do exactly what I told him to do. I’m going to show up. I’m going to be changed by this. I’m going to work for it, for him, for us.
Or sit there and get drunk and give him both middle fingers.
Either way, it’ll be a night to remember.
Chapter Fifteen
Stella
Harmony literally made me a Taylor Swift style friendship bracelet to wear to the championship with the letters: WWRCSBD? (what would rom com Sandra Bullock do?)
