Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
WILDER
“Is today the day?” Sanders asks as he putts a golf ball across his office toward a cup we set up.
“Today is the day,” I say.
“Nervous?”
I shake my head. “No. Not in the slightest.”
“You think she’s ready?”
“Yeah,” I answer. His ball goes off to the right, so I step up to the tee and get in position.
“What have the last two weeks been like?”
“Well, still reeling over the scandal of you not being a real therapist.”
He rolls his eyes. “Grow up.”
“Grow up?” I chuckle. “Dude, you’re selling a scam.”
“And yet, you’re still here.”
I let out a heavy huff. “Yeah, I know, something might be wrong with me.”
“Nah, you’ve just been swooped up by the Sanders Effect, trademark.”
“You really have issues.”
“Am I the one with the issues, or are you?” He lifts his brow, causing me to laugh.
I think I’m the one with the issues.
“So once again, how have the last two weeks been?”
Moving on with the change of subject, I glance up at him, a smirk on my face.
“Ah.” He nods. “No need to say more. I can see from the look on your face that it’s been good.”
“Really fucking good,” I say. “I’ve stayed at her place almost every night. I’ve taken her to mine a few, made her dinners. We joined a pinochle league, and we are fucking terrible.”
Sanders chuckles.
“But we’re learning, and that’s all that matters. We’re still doing our cooking class and killing it. I’ve brought her flowers at work, and honestly, I’ve had the best fucking time. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. At least not for a really long time.”
I felt immense pride when my app sold. It was an incredible experience. But this feeling? Feeling so connected to a woman that dreams are made of? Nothing could ever surpass that. She’s simply it for me, and there’s both joy and relief in feeling that.
I putt the ball and miss terribly, pushing it to the left.
Sanders retrieves our balls as he says, “How is Mika?”
“Doing well. We, uh, we had brunch with our mom the other day. It was at a restaurant, and I gave Mika an escape route if things got too heavy. He wound up staying through the entire thing, which I was proud of, but fuck was it awkward at first.”
Sanders chuckles. “That’s how it usually goes. How did it end?”
“Good. I gave Mom a hug, and Mika stood his distance and waved. But we promised to do it again in a few weeks.”
“That’s progress,” Sanders says.
“Little progress, but I was happy about it.”
“When do you think you’ll introduce your mom to Scottie?” He sets down his golf ball and gets into position.
“Uh, probably not for a little while and not before Mika and Mom have a better understanding of each other. I don’t want to make Mika feel pressured to make amends because Mom met Scottie.”
“That’s really considerate,” Sanders says, hitting his ball off the lip of the cup. He snaps his finger in disappointment. “Does Scottie know that?”
“Yes,” I say. “I’m very open and honest with her about everything.”
“Good. I’m sure she appreciates it.”
“She does,” I answer and set my ball down.
“And how are you feeling in general? Everything with Mika, your mom? Are you finding peace?”
“I am,” I answer. And that’s almost a strange realization, as I hadn’t realized my life was lacking peace. I’d thought I lacked nothing. How wrong I was. I line up my putt and shove the ball into his desk. Shit, I’m terrible at this. “I like how feeling internally at peace is allowing me to focus on what Scottie needs and deserves in her life.” It reminds me of how my dad loved our family. I miss him. And I wish he’d gotten a chance to meet Scottie. They’d get along very well.
“Has she found peace?”
I set my putter to the side and take a seat on the couch. “Honestly, I think she has. I’ve seen a change in her. No longer is she second-guessing herself or turning down compliments. She accepts them wholeheartedly. She has more confidence, she’s feeling herself, and she’s made great progress with her coworkers too, which I think is a big deal.”
“Why do you think that’s a big deal?” Sanders asks, lining up another putt.
“Because at first, she just kept to herself, and I think that was from a lack of confidence and not wanting to engage with men since the last one she was with ignored her. But now she goes out to lunch with them and has truly made some more friendships, which I think is great.”
“Interesting observation.” He putts the ball, and I watch it sail over the carpet and right into the cup. Sanders does a subtle fist pump and then takes a seat across from me. “Maybe I should hire you as my assistant.”
“I don’t have a degree in the matter, so I would fit right in.”
“Hence why I asked.”
“When are we going to start jogging?” Scottie asks as we walk hand in hand through Central Park.
It’s a perfect summer day in New York City. Not too hot, a light breeze, and partially cloudy with the sun peeking out every once in a while. Everyone is out of their apartment buildings having picnics, tossing Frisbees, and going for walks.
The laughter of kids chirps in the background, the promise of ice cream in the air. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect day.
And oddly, I had to con Scottie into coming out with me today. Her idea of a perfect Saturday was to lie around her apartment naked and order food in. And I agree. That is the perfect Saturday. But I have one thing I need to do with her, and once we do that, then we can go back to the apartment and do what she wants to do.
To get her out here, I told her I wanted to go on a jog through Central Park. It’s lame and I’m sure not what she wants to do on a Saturday, but I was telling her I was cramping a bit, and I thought it would help limber me up.
She asked if we could take a shower together when we got back to her place, and that was an automatic yes for me.
What are we really doing though?
Well, finishing out the bucket list of course.
We turn the corner toward the Central Park Boathouse, and I tug her toward the rentals.
“Wait.” She stops and turns toward me. “Are we really going for a jog?”
I smirk and nod toward the paddleboats. “What do you think?”
“Eep!” She pulls me into a hug and kisses me on the jaw. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Pips.”
We walk over to the boathouse rental and rent out a paddleboat, Scottie beaming the entire time. She’s so fucking adorable. The way she accepts and displays her joy for the world to see, it’s so goddamn cute.
I pay for the rental, and we are escorted to the boat, where we carefully get in, me first and then Scottie. We’re given a bit of a push, and then together, we start peddling.
“This is so…ridiculous,” she says on a laugh as we move around the lake.
“Ridiculous?” I ask. “I thought it was supposed to be romantic.”
“You’re not holding my hand. How is that romantic?”
“Ahh, you’re right.” I pick up her hand and entwine our fingers. “That better?”
“Much.”
We move toward the center of the lake just as the sun is covered up by a cloud and a light breeze picks up. “That feels so nice.” She tips her head back, soaking it all in. “Thank you for this, for bringing me and checking off the last thing on my bucket list.”
“You’re welcome,” I say and then clear my throat. “I, uh, I didn’t necessarily bring you out here just for this.”
She turns toward me now, the boat just floating. “You didn’t?” she asks, looking confused.
“No, I had a selfish reason too.”
“What is it?”
Here goes nothing.
With her hand still in mine, I look her in the eyes and say, “You know, I didn’t realize how monotonous my life was until Mika told me his friend needed a fake husband. Ever since you stepped into my life, you’ve opened my eyes, you’ve helped me face my fears and my insecurities, and you’ve made me really fucking happy, Scottie. And I just…I can’t keep it in anymore, so I brought you here because I wanted to tell you that I’m in love with you.”
Her eyes well up with tears.
“I love you, Pips, more than anything. And I needed you to know that…in the middle of this lake in the middle of Central Park.”
She chuckles and wipes at her eyes. “Had to be here?”
I nod. “Because we’re closing out the bucket list, so it had to be here.”
She scoots in a touch closer and says, “You think I’m the one who helped you?” She shakes her head. “No, Wilder. You’re the one who helped me. You’re the one who opened my eyes, who made me work hard to see the person I really am and not the person I thought I was. You were patient, you communicated, you taught me lessons I didn’t even know that I needed, and I know I’m a confident woman now because of you.” She kisses my knuckles and then says, “I love you. I’m in love with you, and I’m so grateful I have you in my life.”
My smiles stretches across my lips, because hearing those words from her, fuck, it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever heard. I pull her in, gripping the back of her head. I press our foreheads together and say, “Thank you, Pips.”
“How could I not love you, Wilder? You are everything I didn’t know I deserved.”
“You’re everything I didn’t know I needed,” I reply, making her smile.
She gently moves her mouth over mine, and I follow her lead as we slowly make out on a paddleboat, drifting in the middle of Central Park.
After a few minutes, she pulls away and says, “Maybe we can make a new list, one that we want to cross off together.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” I kiss her forehead. “And here I thought we were going to be a whole ‘till summer do us part’ situation.”
“What does that mean?” she asks on a laugh.
“You know, married for the summer, but after that, we were done.”
She looks me dead in the eyes. “I mean, that probably was going to be the case, but I think I knew the minute I felt those piercings—there was going to be no parting whatsoever.”
I let out a bark of a laugh and nod my head. “I’m oddly proud of myself.”
She kisses me again and whispers, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Pips.”