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“Yeah, tell me about it. I get no quarter from this woman.”
“It's good for you. Keeps you on your toes.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“No maybe about it,” Nick chuckles. “You need somebody who will kick your ass when you step out of line. And best as I recall, Emily was fantastic at doing just that.”
“That she was,” I tell him.
Nick drains the last of his drink and looks at me. Even through the computer screen, it feels like he can see through me. Of the five of us, Nick's always been the closest to me. He knows me better than anybody – not that the rest of the guys and I aren't close. But Nick and I have always shared a little deeper bond than I do with the others. It's hard to explain. It doesn't mean I don't love and value the other guys any less, but Nick just gets me better than anybody else on this planet. Always has.
“You really like her. Maybe even more than you did back in college,” Nick observes.
Like I said, he can read me like a book. I rub the stubble on my jawline, taking a second to organize my thoughts into something coherent.
“I wouldn't say more,” I start, parsing my words carefully. “Differently, maybe. It seems –”
“It seems a little more tangible. A little more real,” Nick interrupts. “You sort of feel like this is something you've been waiting for. Like she's the piece that completes the puzzle in your head.”
I shrug. “In a way, yeah, I suppose so,” I reply. “I mean, we're a million miles away from anything romantic. I don't even know how she feels about it with any certainty. But yeah, the feelings I have today are different than they were back in college. Like you said, they're a little more tangible.”
“This is a good thing, Aaron. A very good thing.”
“Maybe. It could also be nothing,” I caution him. “Emily may not be into it in the least.”
“It's possible. And you need to prepare yourself for that.”
“Yeah, she's tough to get a read on,” I admit. “I've got zero idea where her head is.”
“Hey, you somehow managed to win her over despite being a boring as hell tech nerd once,” Nick mocks me. “Who's to say lightning can't strike twice?”
“Anybody ever tell you that you really suck at pep talks?”
“At least once a day.”
“Yeah, there's a reason for that.”
His smile fades and his expression grows a bit more serious. “If I were a betting man, I'd lay my money on you winning her over, Aaron,” he says. “You know I don't put a lot of stock into that hand of fate bullshit, but the odds of you two ending up in the same place, back in each other's lives, after all these years – it's mind-boggling. It has to mean something.”
“I've had the same thought,” I admit with a soft laugh.
“And you put even less stock into the hand of fate bullshit than I do. Which should tell you something.”
“Oh, it tells me something,” I reply. “I'm just not sure what.”
“And that, my friend, is what you need to figure out. And you can start doing that on your little getaway to Portland.”
I laugh. “It's a business trip. I'm meeting with –”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, call it what you want,” he laughs. “I know how these things work and know there will be plenty of downtime for you two to get – reacquainted.”
“Pretty sure nothing too outrageous is going to happen.”
He shrugs. “Nobody said it has to. But you have a chance to melt the ice queen again. Seize that opportunity, Aaron.”
“I'll do my best.”
“Do better than that,” he replies. “Because once I tell Abbie, she’ll start planning your wedding.”
