Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Leon
“Sorry, what?” My mouth instantly feels drier than a desert, and I feel as hot as the plains of the Serengeti. How the hell does he know that? I vehemently deny it. “I’ve not got feelings for—”
“I’ve known for a while, Leon. Years, actually,” Lily interjects, railroading me. “I only told Ash when we were on vacation,” she says casually, as if this is the most normal conversation we’ve ever had, when in fact, it’s more difficult than trying to catch moonlight in a jar.
Lily begins humming to herself and goes back to making coffee for everyone while I stand gaping at the pair of them like a fish out of water.
Was I that obvious? I couldn’t have been, because Erika is unaware of how much she means to me and how I can’t stop thinking about her.
Ash continues as if they’ve rehearsed this entire thing.
“But when we got back, Erika announced her engagement to Huck, so my chance to give you a gentle nudge pretty much flew out the window, and it wasn’t my place to tell her how you felt because I thought, well, hoped, actually, that you might have stepped in to stop her ridiculous decision. ”
That would have made me look like a fucking chump. “I was waiting for you to do it,” I counter.
Ash leans forward, resting his forearms on the marble work surface.
“After what happened today, I think it’s time to be honest with her, Leon.
And yourself.” He stalls for a second too long.
“Fuck. This is way harder than I thought.” Tilting his head back, he raises his eyes to the ceiling.
“I’m giving you my permission to go after what you want.
” A long sigh escapes his chest, as if he’s struggling with his decision before he looks directly at me.
“I know, in the past, I’ve told you Erika was off limits, but it was wrong of me to do that.
I don’t own her, and it wasn’t my place to put a stop to what might be your forever.
” His eyes crinkle around the edges, his lips turning upward slightly, softening his face a little.
“But I’ve been watching you, man, and I see the way you look at her.
Hell, I’ve seen the way she looks at you, like you hung the damn moon or something.
It’s been in front of me all along. I hate to admit it, but I felt it and knew it myself, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you because I’m a pig-headed shithead.
So here we are. I’m giving you my blessing.
” He sounds out of breath, as if the burden he’s been carrying around isn’t weighing him down anymore.
However, he’s shifted the pressure onto me.
Fuck. This is huge.
Is he for real?
Allowing what he just said to sink in, I realize it might be too late for Erika and me, causing me to press my fingertips into my temples to ease the tension.
Does she really look at me like I hung the moon? That can’t be right, surely.
And what if she doesn’t feel the same way about me? She can’t possibly feel anything other than love for me as a friend because, until today, she’s been living with another man.
“The puck is in your rink, Leon. It’s time,” Lily says cheerily, pouring creamer into the coffee as if this isn’t the most serious conversation we’ve ever had.
“She’s only just split up with her fiancé,” I blurt because it’s all I can think to say. She doesn’t want me. No way. Going on honeymoon with her is a dick move, and I will not be anyone’s damn rebound, especially not Erika’s.
But she doesn’t love him. She said that herself.
“Is Lily right? Do you love her, Leon?” Ash asks, his brows raised in curiosity.
“I…I…” I stutter.
Lily jumps in, answering for me, “Of course he does.” Then she continues with words that make beads of sweat form on my upper lip. “Or he wouldn’t visit her at the hospital every week and take her to lunch. Or send her fancy dinners and donuts when she’s working double shifts.”
“Stop talking.” I nervously watch the doorway, afraid Erika might show up, but Lily keeps dropping truth bombs left and right.
“You often pick her up from the hospital when she’s too tired to drive because you don’t want her to fall asleep behind the wheel on her way home. And when she comes over to watch movies, you watch romcoms together because they’re her favorites.”
Ash gasps. “Shit, you’ve got it bad, man.”
Lily waggles her finger at him. “You should take a lesson from Leon’s book.
” She winks, and he blows her a kiss right back.
Then she adds, “You also go to that grocery store that’s miles out of town because it sells her favorite British soda that no one else does.
And the thing that makes my heart melt the most and tells me you are in love with her is when you wait for her outside the hospital, knowing she’s just lost a patient, so that you can give her a hug.
You know exactly what she needs, Leon. And news just in, buddy…
she doesn’t love Huck. I think she liked the idea of him at first. He’s a complete contrast to her demanding job.
Maybe he was a refreshing change. I don’t know, but he wasn’t right for her.
We all know it, and she’s known it herself for a while too.
She’s just taken some time to realize that.
” Lily moves toward my side, loops her arm around my waist, then looks up at me.
She’s so tiny. “When she asked me to organize her wedding entirely because she didn’t care about the theme or colors or any of the finer details, I knew then something was off.
The brides I deal with want control over every minute detail, but not Erika. ”
That all makes sense now. Lily runs one of the top event-planning businesses in Canada, so she would know what normal bride behavior looks like.
Lily squeezes my waist and shares some more facts that fill me with hope.
“Her and I had a heart-to-heart a few weeks ago, and that’s when I realized she was having doubts about marrying Huck because she asked me to describe how I felt about Ash.
When I told her how I was completely content in my life with Ash, that my heart still flutters every time I think about him, and that all I want is to spend my time with him, making memories and building a beautiful life together, she said she didn’t feel any of those things toward Huck.
Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t call off the wedding before today. ”
I wanted that too. Willed her to do it. Then she did. She ran as fast as her silk nylon-covered feet could carry her, straight into my arms.
On the other hand, this conversation makes me want to run for the hills.
It’s so unexpected.
“So, after hearing all that, are you going to continue to deny how you feel?” Ash asks, much stronger this time.
I don’t answer; instead, I dance around the edges and reply, “She’ll never agree to me going on her honeymoon with her.
” But now they’ve planted the seed in my head, all I want is to spend two weeks alone with her in Bora Bora.
I can already feel the sun warming my skin and picture myself lazing in the turquoise ocean outside a private over-the-water bungalow with her in my arms.
Wishful thinking, maybe. She might not even want to go on her honeymoon by herself or with anyone.
“She will want to go with you.” Ash winks. “My mom is suggesting the same thing to her right now.”
The three of them did come up with this plan on the way over here, just as I suspected. Divide and conquer. And right now, Judy is next door trying to convince Erika to go on her honeymoon with me.
Fuck, no.
Yes, do it. Grab this opportunity by the balls, Leon.
Lily places our coffee mugs on a tray to carry into the living room, but just as she’s about to lift it off the island, Erika runs into the kitchen, clapping her hands, looking like an excitable puppy rather than heartbroken.
Because she’s not, she doesn’t love Huck.
Everything is beginning to make sense now.
What a revelation and a rush.
“Leon, my mom has had the best idea.” Eyes wide, she sounds so happy. Happier than I’ve seen her in a long time.
Having spent many days and nights with Erika, I know her, but when she’s with Huck, it’s as if she tones down her personality to a meek one whenever he’s nearby.
Relationships are the one thing we don’t share much about.
We tend to stay on the outskirts—her rare date nights with Huck, the people I hook up with—but we never really go too deep.
Erika mentions some arguments she and Huck have over how many hours she works, the long shifts, and how tired she is, which limits her attendance at some of his gigs.
But he’s a selfish prick who forgets who pays for everything.
Thinking about it now, recently, I’ve just realized she hasn’t talked about him at all.
I guess it’s because I never asked. Maybe that makes me a bad friend, but I’ve barely asked about her wedding plans either.
Not because I didn’t care, but because just thinking about her with Huck makes me sick.
The idea of him touching her, waking up next to her, hearing her laughter every day, it’s unbearable.
I fucking hated him. Hated him because I thought he loved her in a way I could only do from afar.
But she’s here with me now because he lost her. He blew it.
“What’s your mom’s idea?” I ask, knowing exactly what comes next.
Enthusiastically, she beams at me. “Mom suggested I still go on my honeymoon; you know, to give me time to decompress, forget about everything, and fill myself up with vitamin D.”
I’d like to fill Erika up with something beginning with D.
I push my erotic thoughts about her, which I have many of, away. “That’s a great idea.”
“I know you might have a lot on your plate since it’s the off-season, and I understand this is your busiest time for contract negotiations and player movement, but the flight isn’t for another week, which would give you time to reorganize your calendar.
So I thought maybe you could do that, then, maybe you could come to Bora Bora with me?
” She pushes her finger into her mouth and nervously nibbles on her perfectly manicured nail, waiting for my answer.
Another thing I love about Erika is that she shows interest in my job and knows my schedule.
I visualize my calendar mentally. I know I have a fuckton of contracts and deals to negotiate, along with meetings and video calls, but nothing I can’t handle before I leave.
If anything urgent came up, my team is always prepared, and I can take my phone and laptop with me just in case to cover my ass.
I point my finger at my chest, pretending to be surprised. “You want me to come with you?”
“Yes.” Her brows lift toward her hairline. “It would be amazing, Leon. Las Vegas first, then Bora Bora. C’mon. Say yes. Please.” She prolongs her last word, emphasizing the letter E while bouncing on her toes and pressing her hands together in a prayer-like gesture, begging me to agree.
I pretend to think about it for a moment when all I want to do is scream my answer from the rooftops and tell her yes. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Slowly, I reply, “Okay.” I could never say no to her.
Erika claps her hands before rushing over to me and flinging her arms around my neck. “You’re the best friend anyone could ask for. Have I ever told you that?”
I wince at her friend zone comment. Fuck, that stings.
Friend. That’s all I am to her.
“You’ve told me many times,” I reply, feeling heavy-hearted yet hopeful at the same time. It’s a complicated mix of emotions that I’ve carried with me for years and despise. But what if we could be more, and I finally get the girl I’ve been pining over for years?
Could Erika’s family’s plan really work?
Fuck it, I’m willing to give it a shot.
I wrap my arms around Erika and pat her back when all I really want to do is tuck myself into the crook of her neck and breathe her in because she smells like the remnants of her perfume and my shower gel mixed together. She smells like us.
With Erika pressed against me, I awkwardly look up to see Ash, Lily, and now Judy, who has entered the room, grinning at us.
Sneaky schemers.
But I just might love them even more for it.
Ash runs his hands down his face as if he’s already struggling with the idea of us being a couple, while Lily makes a heart shape with her fingers. The two of them are such a complete contrast to each other. She’s exactly what Ash needs.
“I wondered if I can ask another favor?” Erika asks, easing out of our embrace I wish lasted longer than just a few seconds.
“Ask away.”
“If Lily were to pack my things for our honeymoon, I mean, our vacation, which I haven’t done since I initially planned to during my week off, could she drop off my luggage here? Then could I stay with you until we leave? I don’t want to go home. Not yet.”
“Of course you can.” Having her here with me, under my roof, is the safest place for her and reduces any chance of bumping into Huck.
“Great.” She beams with joy. “That means you’ll be stuck with me for three weeks, though. I hope that’s okay?”
I respond immediately, sarcasm dripping from my voice, “That sounds awful.”
Spending a week here and then two weeks in Bora Bora together sounds perfect.
This is the chance I’ve been looking for to show her how I really feel.
It’s now or never.