Colby chuckles. “You wanna hear something funny? When I saw you drooling over T-Rod in the lobby, I was kind of pissed at you.”
“Why?”
“I was like, ‘Jesus, dude, for three months you’ve been going full-on Ahab over this Argentinian whale of yours, and then you take one look at this T-Rod woman and the whale’s instantly a distant memory?’”
I laugh my ass off. “Oh my God. That’s so Colby of you to defend the whale’s honor. You’re soyou,no matter the situation.”
Colby shrugs and sips his beer.
“Funny thing is, if the whalehadbeen someone other than T-Rod, I would have kicked her to the curb in two seconds flat, exactly the way you thought I did at first sight of T-Rod. Jesus God, did you see T-Rod in that dress today? I’m only human.”
“She’s smokin’ hot, I must say,” Colby agrees. “But like I said, I’d prefer we not dwell on your good fortune.”
We both laugh. Colby’s full of shit, of course: this is what we do—what we’ve always done. We talk about girls, no holding back, whether it’s feast or famine for the other guy.
“As hot as she is, though,” I continue, “my attraction to her isn’t about that. I mean, it doesn’t hurt she looks like a wet dream, not gonna lie, but my pull toward her is based on something way beyond that. It’s something... I dunno...reflexive?”
“Yeah, it’s called a boner.”
“No, no, I meant ‘reflexive’ in a spiritual way. A pre-ordained kind of way. She’s triggered some reflex for mysoul.”
“Oh, Jesus. She’s turned you into Dax.”
“I know—pummel me for it later.”
“Explain it to me.”
I consider for a minute. “You know when the doctor bangs on your knee with the little hammer and your leg kicks?”
Colby nods.
“When you were a kid, did you ever trynotto kick your leg, just to see if you could do it?”
Colby laughs. “Every time.”
“Me, too. But I’ll be damned, Ialwayskicked.” I shrug. “Well, best way I can describe it, that woman is a hammer to my knee, only my ‘knee’ is my mind, body, and soul. She looks at me and, I’ll be damned...” I kick my leg. “Kick.”
Colby laughs. “How do you fool everyone into thinking you’re so normal all the time?”
“It’s quite easy, actually. I just think, ‘What would Colby do?’ And that’s what I do.”
Colby grins at me. “I’m not quite as normal as you think.”
“Oh, yes you are. The sanest of the bunch. Hey, can I tell you something crazy?”
“You mean everything you just told me isn’t already ‘something crazy’?”
I ignore his jab. “The minute I met Samantha—or T-Rod or Tessa, whatever the fuck her name is—I felt like she and I used to be passionately in love in some past life—you know, like completely obsessed with each other. And then we died and our souls got recycled, or whatever happens to souls, and we popped out as two totally new people without any memories of our past life together... and then, we stumbled upon each other in that bar, and our souls instantly rememberedeverything, even though our brains didn’t; and now that we’ve kissed and touched and fucked, my soul’s like, ‘Fuck you, motherfucker, if you think I’mevergonna be separated from that woman again.’” I press my lips together, shocked at what just spewed from my mouth. “God, that was some crazy-ass shit, huh?”
But Colby looks unfazed. He’s sipping his beer quietly, looking out at the ocean, nodding like what I’ve said makes perfect sense.
I wait, but he doesn’t say anything. “Go ahead. Tell me I’m a loon,” I say.
Colby smiles at me, his blue eyes full of warmth. “Why would I call you a loon? You know for a fact I’m feeling the exact same way in my life. I couldn’t have said it better myself. To tell you the truth, Ry, that little speech is exactly why I love you the most.”
I can’t help blushing. “Thanks, Bee.”
“Plus, that’s the kind of stuff Dad always says about Mom.”
