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“Did you tell him about Scott?” I asked. “Scott was acting really weird at dinner, I’m sure Brock noticed.”
Gaby nodded. “Yeah, Scott was acting like a jerk. I’m not sure what his problem is with Brock, but I plan to talk to him about it., It was totally uncalled for. Brock asked if Scott and I used to be an item, and I explained that we had a brief hook-up back in high school, but had never dated, and had only ever been friends. I told him that Scott’s just stressed out over his wedding, so that’s probably why he was acting crazy.” Gaby turned to me, concerned. “I don’t know though, Sasha, Scott seems to be changing. He’s more sullen and always seems to be in a bad mood. I really think that this pending marriage to Victoria is tearing him apart. I think he knows, on some level, that he doesn’t want to marry her, but he’s afraid to not only hurt her, but to make a decision that will change his plans so completely. Plus … his parents would be really pissed at him. I know I mentioned before that I wanted to break them up, but that was for purely selfish reasons. Now, I think we need to talk some sense into him before he ruins his life. Like, hold an intervention or something. What do you think?”
I thought about everything she said, and I had to agree, Scott was not himself. I’d heard that weddings should be stressful, but I was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to turn you into an ogre and make you completely miserable. I figured Gaby was probably right, and Scott was in so deep with Victoria that he didn’t know how to get out
“I think it’s a great idea. We should talk to the others and get their take, then we can plan it out. I hate seeing Scott like this, and although he may hate us for it initially, I think he’d thank us in the long run,” I agree, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “It’ll probably be really hard though.”
Gaby nodded slowly. “I know, but I really think it’s in his best interest. Anyway.” Gaby shook her shoulders as if shaking off the sadness. “Let’s talk about something happier, like the baby shower.”
I laughed at Gaby’s words. “Baby shower? Shelly just found out she’s pregnant, we have at least seven months or something before it’ll be time to have a baby shower.”
“That gives us plenty of time to plan something wonderful,” Gaby gushed.
We talked about our vision for Shelly’s baby shower for a few more minutes, then went our separate ways and headed back to work.
I went to one of my new listings to take pictures for my website and thought about my day at the beach with TJ. The more time we spent together, the less I wanted our pseudo relationship to end at the end of the week. We were great together, and I’d never felt so connected to a man in my life. I wondered if we’d be able to have a real, lasting relationship and make it work.
I loved everything about him. His strength, his loyalty, his perseverance, and his tenacity. It didn’t hurt that he was also sweet, gorgeous, talented, and sexy as hell. He was the whole package. At least, everything that would make a perfect package for me … And it terrified me. What if I put myself out there, asked him to take a chance on me, and he said no. After all, we’d both agreed to a short-term fling. Sex with no strings attached. What if he didn’t feel the same way that I did?
I had to think long and hard about what I wanted to do. There were only a few days left before he was supposed to move out, and things were supposed to go back to the way they were. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle going back to being just TJ’s friend. The person that he liked to tease and verbally spar with, and not the person he went home to at night.
I was finishing up at the house when my phone signaled that I’d received a text.
Hey, Red. I’m going to head over to Scott’s tonight to play some cards and talk it out wi
th Cal. I’ll be home late, TJ.
I tried to ignore the disappointment and tell myself that a night alone would do me some good. After all, I needed to get used to spending my nights alone again.
I argued with myself all the way to the grocery store, where I picked up a bottle of wine, a premade salad, and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
Should I tell him, should I not tell him?
Should I let him go, or beg him to stay?
Should I take a chance on happiness, when it could also mean the loss of one of my best friends?
By the time I arrived home I was mentally exhausted. This was the exact reason why we’d agreed to call it quits if one of us got too involved, and if I was being totally honest with TJ, I should probably tell him what I was feeling. But I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to take the chance that he would walk away now, and I wouldn’t get to spend the next few days with him.
So, I decided to keep my mouth shut and see what happened.
After I changed in to my comfy clothes, I brought my salad and wine to the living room and decided a little John Hughes was in order. I scrolled through my titles, pulled out Some Kind of Wonderful, and made myself comfortable.
Chapter 21 – TJ
“How are you doing, man? You’ve seemed a little off the last few times I’ve seen you,” I asked Scott as I watched him pour a glass of whiskey.
Scott paused in his pouring, looking out over his kitchen as if lost in thought, then he put the bottle down and ran his hand over his face, bracing himself on the counter.
“I don’t know, TJ,” he answered, his voice low and gruff. “I’ve been feeling off. I don’t know if it’s the wedding, or Victoria, or this shit with Gaby suddenly resurfacing and everyone hearing about it, but it seems like every little thing sets me off. Maybe I need to get away for a little while.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It might do you some good to take a step back from everything and give yourself some time to think. Some time to relax.”
He was really starting to worry me, and I couldn’t help but wonder, if he was getting this stressed over the thought of marrying Victoria, what was the reality of that going to look like? I was afraid that he was going to be miserable, but Cal and I had already told him our feelings about his marrying Victoria once, and he’d ended up staying with her. I didn’t want to alienate him by pushing too hard.
“What’s the deal with you and Sasha?” he asked, turning to look at me and trying to take the heat off of himself.
“Well … when I started living with her, we both decided to come clean about our attraction to each other. It was easy to ignore it over the last few years, but near impossible to do so when we were living under the same roof. We agreed to have an exclusive, sexual relationship while I live there, no strings attached, and then go back to being just friends when I move out.” When I said it out loud, it sounded pretty stupid, and when I saw the look on Scott’s face, I could see he agreed.
