I lift my head long enough to glare at him. He laughs a little and tries to cover it with his hand. “Sorry, but come on. It’s like unheard of that you’re exclusive with someone. It’s against your personal brand or religion or whatever.”
“You of all people should know things change,” I retort.
“Yeah, but I smartened up. I didn’t think you were capable of that,” he quips and I glare at him again. “Sorry. But seriously, you were single by choice. I was single because I had to be. So this is a shock.”
“Well she’s going to dump me anyway,” I tell them. “Because I have no idea how to do this and I fucked up.”
“How?” Steph pats my hand and pours a glass of water for me from the pitcher. “You can tell us. I won’t judge and if he gets snarky again I’ll kick him. I promise.”
Avery rolls his eyes but says. “I promise to quit with the jokes.”
“Tell us about this mystery girl,” Stephanie commands. “And why you think you blew it.”
I give them a quick rundown of how we met, how amazing she turned out to be and then tell them about the current situation.
“I booked us separate hotel rooms,” I admit. “Because of the nightmare situation.”
Avery and Steph are the only two people who know about my nightmares and I didn’t tell them by choice. I had a bad one this summer when I was visiting them. Avery burst into my room and tried to wake me, but I was thrashing so hard I clocked him in the head and gave him a black eye.
“So you’ve been dating her for a couple weeks and you’ve never…” Avery’s eyebrows lift as his sentence trails off suggestively.
“Are you stupid? Of course we have. A lot,” I clarify. “I just haven’t slept over afterward. You saw what can happen.”
“You’re still having nightmares?” Avery asks. “I thought that was a random thing.”
“I’ve been having them on and off my whole life. Anyway, I can’t do that to her. I would never forgive myself. And I can’t explain that to her because…she’ll think I’m crazy.”
Stephanie gives me a little shrug. “I’m betting she’s pretty fabulous if you’re dating her. You don’t date just anyone. So why not give her the benefit of the doubt?”
“Yeah, I mean if she’s crazy enough to give you any kind of shot in the first place, she can probably handle it,” Avery adds and bursts into a giant grin when I glare at him again. I feel the table shake and his face contort. “Ouch!”
Steph kicked him. Good.
“Oh come on, Steph!” Avery gives his girlfriend a pleading look. “He’s made it his mission to take the piss out of us when we’re in relationships. Now it’s my turn!”
“Avery, my love, can you run off and see if Seb and Shayne are ready to head into town? Since I have some experience with hiding stuff I shouldn’t from boyfriends, I’m going to keep talking to our clueless friend here.”
Avery pushes back from the table and stands up, leaning across it to kiss the top of Steph’s head. “Meet you in the lobby when you’re done,” he tells her and then reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. “Good luck, buddy. I know you need it.”
“I want to tell you to fuck off, but I do need it,” I mutter back and he walks off.
Stephanie watches him go and then turns to me with a clear, calm expression. “‘It’s not ruined. Avery knows you’re right for him. The kid isn’t as stupid as he looks. It’ll be fine, Steph.’”
“What?”
“Your words to me when Avery found out about my past,” she says. “You said it better than I ever could.”
“Yeah, but I knew Avery well. You’ve never even met Brie,” I remind her.
She shrugs. “Yeah, but I know you. And this girl has to be special if she’s got you feeling something.”
I smile sheepishly. “We have similar pasts. She just had better luck.”
“Your luck will only change if you let it, Alex,” she says. “Let her in. If you think you’re going to lose her either way, then what difference does it make? Give it your all.”
“I’ll take your advice,” I tell her and let out a long, slow breath.
“Good. Now go find her and fix this,” she says shooing me from the table as she stands up. I stand too and she wraps her arm around my shoulder reaching up to kiss my cheek. “And remember, no matter what, you’ve got us.”
