Page 10 of Nate
And I was meant to be taking her out for a meal tonight. A bit of quality brother-sister bonding time. But now all I can think about is Piper.
“So, what do you think I should do?”
She chews her lips for a second. Her eyebrows scrunch up and the tip of her tongue pokes out her mouth. It’s the same look she’d have on her face trying to figure out a difficult calculus problem when we were kids.
“Normally, I’d say you should do some big flashy romantic gesture. But I’m not sure that’s the right move here. This woman… this Piper… I think you need to tell her what you just told me.
“If she thinks you’re cheating on her. Like you’re some kind of player,” she scoffs as she says that. I’m anything but a player. Hannah’s always mocked me for my traditional romantic views, but I guess that’s just the way I’m built. “Then honesty is always the best option.”
“You really think that’ll work?” I ask.
I’m so out of touch with the dating scene.
I literally married my high school sweetheart straight out of med school.
We were together for over a decade. But somewhere along the way, we’d grown apart.
I always thought we’d find our way back to each other. That it was just a phase. Always telling myself that when I got that next promotion, I’d have more time to dedicate to my marriage, and we could settle down and have kids, and live that life we’d dreamed about when we were young, dumb, and full of cum.
Then I found her sleeping with one of my best friends. Found out she’d spent our entire marriage running around behind my back. Playing me for the fool.
I never thought I’d love again. Never thought I’d want to. But Piper’s changed all that. And now I can’t imagine my life without her.
“If it doesn’t,” Hannah says, “then you just keep trying. That’s what you do when you’re in love. You never give up. You fight for it. Cherish it.” A little, solitary tear tumbles down her cheek and lands on the table. “You go get her, Nate. I can see in your eyes how much you like her. And forget all that stuff I was saying earlier. I didn’t really mean it. I was just being bitter.”
7
Piper
“You don’t mean it!”Charlotte pours a little more wine in my glass. She wobbles from side to side and then slumps down on the couch beside me.
“I do!” I lift my glass in the air. “Tomorrow morning, I’m going for a run! Seven o’clock. On the dot. I’ll be up and out the door.”
“Do you even own anything you can go running in? Like, some tracksuit bottoms or some running shoes?”
“Shit.”
She wraps her arm around my shoulder. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll go out for a nice breakfast. And then we can go shopping and get you some stuff. If you’re really serious about it, then I’m here for you. Always. But I want you to know, you’re perfect just the way you are. You don’t need to change just because some stupid, pooface doctor doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it.”
I grab a Kleenex from the box and wipe my eyes. “I thought we said we weren’t gonna mentionhimagain.”
“Last time.” Charlotte kisses my cheek and then downs the rest of her drink. “I promise.
“Now how about we put a movie on?”
I lean forward and grab the remote off the table. “Here,” I say, dropping it in her lap, “you chose.”
Leopard, my cat, jumps on my lap and purrs loudly. He nudges his head against my hand, does a couple of circles on my legs, and then curls up in a ball and falls asleep.
I stroke his silly little head, watching the TV as Charlotte flicks through the movie section on Netflix. “Too boring,” she says. “Ooh, he’s hot. But I’ve seen it already.”
"Just pick one!" I tell her.
The doorbell rings and Charlotte jumps to her feet. “Oooh, that must be the pizza.”
“I’ll get it,” I tell her. “You sit down. I need a little visit to the lady's room.”
I pick Leopard up off my lap. Charlotte plops down on the couch and continues flicking through Netflix.
