My mouth falls open. Roxy is usually good at this game of calling out couples’ tropes, but this is oddly specific and spot on. I did, in fact, have a massive crush on Hutch the first time I met him. But I guess my daddy issues and coming out of some back-to-back lackluster relationships had me running from anything that hinted at commitment. And clearly, Hutch has his own issues.
“Seriously, you got all that from just watching us together?” I ask as I stare at my friends.
“I mean, I didn’t get all of that, but I could definitely tell you two were into each other,” Piper says.
I groan and slap my forehead. “How am I the last one to know?” OK, that’s sort of a lie. I mean, I know I have a crush on him, but could Hutch have a crush on me?
Cam laughs. “I think that’s how love is.” She holds up a hand. “I’m not saying you’re in love yet. But it’s like, other people can see the chemistry, and you’re so in the weeds, you can’t even make out where you are.”
“Isn’t the saying that you can’t see the forest through the trees?” Piper asks.
“Or is it the trees through the forest?” she adds with a shrug.
“Well, whatever it is, I didn’t see it,” I say. I contemplate my next move because I have no idea what to do.
“What do I do now?” I ask.
There is a chorus of giggles from my friends. “You kiss that boy again. That’s what,” Cam says.
“Maybe, say you want to test the waters,” Piper suggests.
“Just launch yourself at that Viking and climb him like a tree,” Roxy states.
Carly laughs. “Talk to him. Hutch is a great listener. Just talk to him, and it will all fall into place.”
I look at Carly and wonder how she can be so wise and not see that her and Bray belong together. But I decide tonight isn’t the night to bring that up. We can discuss her love life another night.
I look down at my sundress. “Should I change?” I ask them.
“Just be you,” Carly urges.
Fuck. Who am I? The guys will be back any minute, and here I am having a full existential crisis. Wonderful.
“I…I mean, I’m still sort of figuring that all out,” I admit aloud.
Roxy laughs. “Girl, you are a slightly loud, opinionated, romance-loving smarty-pants who loves all things autumn and hates all things sports, well, other than one former football player and several dozen or so sports romance books,” she says.
She’s not wrong. But I also feel I have so much more to figure out.
“Write about it,” Roxy says as she watches me process her words.
“Huh?”
“Write about it in your paper. Right about this trip and meeting your family, and figuring out who you are. You’re on this…journey. Write about the journey. It doesn’t have to have some neat bow wrapped around it. Journeys are messy and you learn things the hard way sometimes. I think that’s what you should write about,” she says.
Holy fuck! She’s so right. I sort of hate that she’s right because it means I have to outline yet another paper, but this one feels…like the one.
“You’re right,” I admit.
“I know I am. I’m brilliant like that,” she says with a wink.
I can hear the guys walking down the beach in the distance, and suddenly my belly is filled with butterflies.
“Go on, then. Go talk to your man. We’ll make ourselves scarce,” Carly says as she motions for everyone to stand up. “I saw a card game inside. Let’s go play that.”
Cam shakes her head. “All this talk about romance has me wanting to take Fletcher for a walk down by the beach.”
Roxy laughs. “And by walk, she means, rolling around naked in the sand.”
