Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Colby turned to me. “You’re hesitating because of Alex? Dude, she’s gone. She closed the door. That’s the harsh reality. You owe her nothing.”
I looked down at my cards, mindlessly arranging them. “I didn’t say it was because of Alex.”
“You don’t need to say it.” Holden frowned. “Sadly, we all know it’s the truth.”
“Let’s get started with the game, please.” I took a long drink of my beer.
Thankfully, the guys did, in fact, turn their attention to the poker game at that point. The conversation drifted away from me, much to my relief.
I ended up the loser of the evening, which pretty much mirrored my place in the game of life compared to my buddies. With the three of them now settled, it put some unwanted pressure on me. But that was the thing about what I’d had with Alex—it had never felt like pressure. I’d wanted to settle down for the first time in my life. I’d never thought I’d feel that way about anyone. Heck, I would’ve even considered moving to Connecticut. That’s how bad I’d had it. Maybe I still did.
When I went over to the fridge to grab another beer, Owen followed me.
His voice was low. “You okay? You seem down, although I understand why. I thought I might be able to cheer you up with the best-man thing. Because seriously, you should be stoked about that—especially having to write a speech.” He winked.
“Don’t get your hopes up for anything eloquent. I feel like a chicken with its head cut off lately.” I cracked open the bottle. “But I’m good. Don’t worry about me. And thank you for asking me to be your best man. I’ll do my best not to fuck it up.”
“Feel free to go easy on me in your speech. I don’t need to be roasted.”
“Can’t make any promises.” I shrugged.
“So what’s with this new prospect Holden mentioned? Is she cute? What’s her deal?”
I took a drink of the beer. “Just someone I met out one night when Holden was playing. She’s going through a bad breakup, too, so we bonded a little. That’s about it.”
“You should force yourself to go, even if you don’t feel a hundred percent about it yet. You have nothing to lose.”
I sighed. “It’s hard for me to move on physically when my mind is still stuck on Alex. I know that’s unhealthy, and I’ll have to force it at some point, but it hasn’t felt natural yet.”
“I get it. When Devyn was dodging my efforts back in the beginning, I met up with Tarryn. I’ve mentioned her before, the realtor?” When I nodded, he continued. “She threw herself at me, offered me what was sure to be a great time. But even though Devyn and I weren’t together, I was so hung up on her that it still felt like cheating. So I get it.” He paused. “I mean, Alex was your first love basically, right?”
I pondered that. “Yeah. I had my first real love in my thirties, which is pretty damn pathetic.”
He shook his head. “No. What would be pathetic is never experiencing that feeling. At least you can say you did.”
With that, my mind went to Ryan. He hadn’t experienced that kind of love before he died. I supposed I should feel grateful. That reminded me of something my grandmother used to say. “Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.”
“However, it would’ve been nice if out of all of the people in the universe, the person I fell in love with wasn’t my ex’s stepmother.”
“Touché.” Owen laughed. “Not like you can choose who you fall in love with, though, right?” He sighed. “At some point, you’re going to have to pull the Band-Aid off and just fake it ’til you make it. You know?”
Holden approached. “Fake what?”
Owen turned to him. “Interest in women other than Alex.”
“The girl he met the other night is hot. He shouldn’t have to fake much.” Holden smacked me on the head. “Wake up!”
“You’re one to talk,” I snapped. “When you were into Lala—even back when she was still engaged—women were throwing themselves at you and you didn’t bite.”
Holden wriggled his brows. “Now I bite Lala whenever I want.”
Owen cringed. “Can you not talk about her like that?”
“She’s my wife. I’ll talk about her however I want.”
“Ryan might beg to differ,” Colby said as he joined us in the kitchen. “I still can’t believe you married his little sister. If he were alive, I’m convinced he would’ve beaten your ass over it at least once.”
“We would all have been front and center for that one,” Owen added.
With the subject momentarily elsewhere, I tried to go back to the table, but Owen stopped me. “Hey, we’re not done here. You gonna accept that date with what’s-her-name or what?”
“Her name is Lacey. And I haven’t decided yet.”