“I spent the entire afternoon saying things like ‘Wow, that’s definitely shorter’ and ‘Very practical for summer heat’ instead of just telling her she looked beautiful.”
Pierre alternates between clapping and clutching his stomach with laughter.
“Please tell us there’s more,” Grady says, fully invested now.
“Oh, there’s more. I have an entire catalog. There’s the time I rearranged my schedule to ‘accidentally’ run into her at the Busy Bee. There’s the fact that I bought a French press because she mentioned once that she likes coffee made that way. There’s the collection of dog training books I’ve accumulated since she’s a professional dog trainer. You know, in case she wants to hang around my place for some light reading.”
“Is there anything you haven’t done to avoid admitting you have feelings for this girl?” Hayden asks.
“Well, I haven’t gotten a tattoo of her face on my biceps with the words ‘Just Friends’ underneath it.”
“Yet,” Pierre adds.
“Yet,” I agree.
The mood on the plane has shifted from memorial service to comedy show, and I realize that’s exactly why I did it. Sometimes the best thing I can do for the guys is take a blow to my ego to boost morale, especially if it’s basically my fault thateveryone feels like they’re in the gutter. Though, to be fair, defense could’ve represented. Just sayin.’
But yeah, I’ll take one for the team even if it means admitting I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend who definitely doesn’t feel the same way.
Coach Badaszek walks down the aisle, and everyone suddenly finds their phones very interesting. As he passes my row, he pauses. “Culpepper.”
I glance up, at attention. “Yes, Coach?”
“I heard you adopted a dog from that charity event.”
“Yes, sir. Purdy. She’s a Shih Tzu.”
His expression doesn’t change, but his gaze softens from solid ice. “Dogs are good for perspective. They can remind us of what matters—loyalty, companionship, snacks.”
“Yes, sir,” I repeat. The worst thing anyone could do is disagree with the man because that’ll result in a long lecture, during which you’ll realize that he’s wiser, smarter, and never wrong—not because we give in and agree out of fear of practice retribution, but because he’s right.
It’s uncanny.
Or, our three-pound brains aren’t yet developed enough to understand the big picture, the minute details, and everything in between.
That’s also possible.
He continues down the aisle to the back of the plane.
Mikey leans over. “Did Badaszek just give you relationship advice?”
“I think he gave me dog advice.”
“Same thing in your case,” Fletch points out.
He’s not wrong.
By the time we land, it’s past midnight. I’m exhausted, mentally drained, and want nothing more than to go home, hugmy dogs, and maybe let April tell me everything is going to be okay.
I grab my gear and head to the parking lot where I left my Jeep.
The drive home should take twenty minutes. I make it exactly seven before I see the flashing lights in my rearview mirror—lit up like Christmas even though that was months ago.
Oh no.
Honest to goodness, I was driving the speed limit. Maybe one mile per hour over, but no more than that. I already let my team down once today. I’m not about to break the law and risk getting in an accident and really ruin things.
I pull over, my stomach tumbling as the officer approaches. I stopped at the red light. I used my signal. One mile over the limit doesn’t count as speeding. Okay, technically it does, but … there aren’t any other cars on the road.
