Page 16 of Learn the Play
“Yeah, about that. I don’t have her number.”
“What?” Landry asks.
“We didn’t share last names or numbers. Hell, I guess her name might not even be Bellamy, but her eyes were honest. The things we talked about. It wasn’t just surface level, although there was some of that, too.”
“Tell me you didn’t slip out on her,” Knox says.
“Nope. She got the slip on me,” I confess. “I thought I had more time. I thought I’d wake up with her in my arms, just how we fell asleep, and I could tell her that I wanted to see her again, but I didn’t get the chance. Guys, I’m telling you, she was unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. Not getting her name or her number will be the biggest regret of my life.”
“What about sleeping through her sneaking out?” Foster twists the knife that’s already tearing me up inside just a little more.
“Yeah, that too. We were up late, and I guess I was either dead to the world or she was quiet as a mouse as she slipped out of her room.” I don’t tell them about her thong or the wake-up call. Those aren’t important, at least not to this conversation. Those pieces of her, of our time together, are just for me.
A wake-up call might sound lame to hold on to, but she cared enough to make sure I was up. If I were just someone she was never going to see again, someone who didn’t mean anything, she wouldn’t have done that, right?
“So, what are we going to do?” Baker asks me.
“What do you mean? I already tried to get the hotel to tell me who she was, but I failed. The guy wasn’t breaking the rules for me. I didn’t press because I don’t need that headline circling the globe.”
“Good choice,” Foster agrees.
“There’s nothing I can do.” I shrug.
“You could hire a private investigator,” Landry suggests. “She was attending a wedding there, as well, right? There has to be a way for someone to find out who she is.”
“Yeah, but if she wanted him to know, she would have told him,” Foster counters. “There was a reason she slipped out while he was sleeping.”
“I hate to admit it, but Foster’s right. I don’t want to invade her privacy like that. Besides, maybe it’s a fate kind of thing. If we ever cross paths again, I won’t let her go so easily a second time.”
“You think that will happen?” Foster asks, furrowing his brow. It’s almost as if his mind is somewhere else, as if the question is about more than me and my dream girl.
“I don’t know, but I’d like to think so. She’s the only woman I’ve ever met who’s made me want to know everything about her, to spend every minute with her, and that was all within a handful of hours.”
“What happens if you meet someone?” Knox asks.
“Yeah, you never know when someone is going to enter your life that changes things,” Landry agrees, glancing over his shoulder where his wife is now getting her turn with Camden.
“I won’t.” There is conviction in my tone. “Guys, I’m telling you… she’s my dream girl. We have so much in common. The things we want out of life, weddings, kids, music, food, all of it. And we’re compatible in other ways, too. As in no one in my past exists before her.”
“I met a girl like that once,” Knox says, his voice smug. “I married her.”
“Same,” Landry agrees.
“Yeah, so if I’m lucky, I’ll get to see her again, and when I do, I’ll make damn sure to get her name.”
“And until then?” Baker asks.
“He gets through the day,” Foster answers for me.
There’s something there with him. He keeps dropping these subtle hints, but none of us press him. Foster is one of those people who won’t open up until he’s ready. He knows we’re here for him when he is.
“He’s right,” I agree. “I just have to keep going through the motions. But if that day ever comes, I’ll make sure she understands that in one night, she changed something inside me. She made me fall for her, and while I can’t say that it’s love I’m feeling, I know I want to get to know her better. I want more of her time and her laughter. I want it all, and I can be patient when I need to be.”
“If you need help learning the play, we've got you.” Landry nods.
I laugh. “Thanks, man.” I’m not going to tell him I don’t need his help, because honestly, I don’t know. I could be dreaming, living in a fantasy land where my dream girl comes back to me. The chances of us meeting again are slim to none, but I have hope. The kind of chemistry we shared is once in a lifetime.Surely, the universe will bring that back to me, right? Back to us? It sounds out of reach even to my own ears, but I’m not giving up hope. Not yet. I told Bellamy that if I ever met my dream girl, I’d hold on tight. My grip was loose the first time around. The second, I’ll be sure she knows my intentions.
I just hope I get the chance. In the meantime, maybe I should take Landry up on his offer and learn the play. I don’t know much about being in a relationship, nothing really, except for the fact that I want one with her.
