Chapter Twenty
Care, care…care. I’ve said the word twenty different ways and it doesn’t sound any better to me. What the hell did he mean by it? Overanalyzing this man’s words will be the death of me. -Lyla
Lyla
“He cares about you a lot? What the hell does that mean? I mean, I know Asher is old, but that sounds like something you say to your eighty-year-old grandmother, not the woman you’re sleeping with.” Reina’s sarcasm makes me shrug my shoulders.
“I know, I know. It’s awful, isn’t it?” I ask in an annoyed voice. “I might as well have confessed my love to a tree or any other inanimate object. The man was stone, girls, pure stone.”
Sophie gives me a sympathetic smile. “Maybe he really meant it in a very positive way. Maybe the words are just hard for him. They were for Liam. Took forever for him to finally say them.”
I bite my lip. “But now I’ve thrown the words out there. I can’t take them back and I don’t want to. I love him.” I blink away sudden tears. Isn’t love supposed to make you happy? Why does everything have to be so damn hard?
“Because that’s life, I guess. Life’s a bitch sometimes, and that makes the happy times all the better, I suppose.” The philosophical statement from Reina gives me pause. She’s right, I guess. I just wish the sucky times in life weren’t…so damn sucky.
I take a sip of my now cold coffee. We’ve been sitting in a coffee shop for over an hour analyzing Asher’s words. As for the man in question, he acts like nothing is wrong. We watched a movie together last night at my house, and he was as sweet and affectionate as ever. But I was twitchy. I wanted to say the L word again. Now that the cat was out of the bag, I wanted to say it all the time. But I also didn’t want to watch his face grow that terrible shade of purplish red that it did the other day or hear his “I care about you a lot” speech again. That was freakin’ embarrassing.
“You know what, girls?”
They both shake their heads in unison.
“I think we should stop discussing the sad state of my love life. I mean, I’m getting great sex, so it’s not all bad. But we’re sitting in this coffee shop talking about a guy when we could be talking about other aspects of our lives. More important, your lives. I feel like all the time has been spent on me lately.” I turn to Reina. “How’s the wedding planning going?’
Reina automatically lights up and I feel glad to finally talk about something else. I listen as she talks about the traditions that she and Brian want to incorporate and what they don’t. I try very hard to not think about what my own wedding will be like one day. It’s a sad thought at this point.
“I actually have something to ask you Lyla,” Reina says in a shy voice. Reina? Shy? Never happens.
“Go ahead, ask away, Reina. You can ask me anything.”
“I already asked Sophie to be my maid of honor, but I would really like to have you as my bridesmaid.” There’s a light sheen of tears in her eyes. “You were amazing during Brian’s injury, and you’ve become one of my best friends. I would love for you to stand with me on my big day. And I promise to not be a bridezilla. Y’all can pretty much wear whatever you want.”
I feel a lump form in my throat. I haven’t had many close girlfriends in my life, so I treasure my friendships with Reina and Sophie. “I would be honored to be your bridesmaid, Reina.”
Reina clears her throat. “Okay, so now that my sentimental moment is done, let’s talk about something non-mushy. Anybody seen the news about that pop star and her new hottie football boyfriend? What do we think? Yay or nay? I vote yay. He looks like he could throw her around the bedroom in the best way.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Trust Reina to find a non-serious subject to distract us all with.
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