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She rolled her eyes slightly but smiled. Then she hopped out of the truck and walked up the drive to the house, her shape illuminated by the headlights.
How many five-minute drives would it take to get her to fall back in love with me?
When would she be cleared to drive herself and take away my window of opportunity? I wouldn’t want to pray for her recovery to be hindered. That would be awful and selfish of me.
But I wouldn’t complain if she needed a chauffeur for a few more weeks. Just until we had some rapport established, that was all. I would survive in the friendzone for as long as it took. I wasn’t going to give up on Monica and me.
I might be a perpetual screw-up, but I wasn’t going to mess this up.
During my shift the next day at the station, I was playing video games with Bryce. Sometimes between calls we just needed a break. You could only play so much Ping-Pong before it got old.
“When does Krystal get back in town?”
Bryce frowned. “She’s got two more weeks of filming this movie, and then she’s going back to California to clear out her apartment before she films the next one.”
“Wow, that’s crazy.” It was all happening so fast for them.
He grinned. “When she’s finally back, I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
I paused the game. “Say what?”
Bryce nodded. “Yeah. This is it. I’m just ready to move forward, you know? It seems fast, until you realize that I’ve known her my whole life and been in love with her for half of it.”
I chuckled. “So, you finally admit that you were always pining?”
“Doesn’t matter now. I got the girl in the end.”
I smiled but didn’t respond. I wanted to be happy for him, but my heart was torn up with envy. Monica and I had been so close to announcing our relationship and moving forward. Probably the kind of “forward” that involves a ring and a white dress.
I unpaused the game and immediately chucked a grenade at Bryce’s hiding spot.
“Seriously, Jake?”
His character regenerated, and he fired a rocket launcher at me.
“How was Bible study with Monica last night?” I could hear the question behind the question, and I thought carefully about how to answer it.
“We’re friends. For now, that’s all we are. I don’t want to freak her out, you know?”
“Mom said she was in a good mood afterward, so that’s positive. She’s been pretty grumpy, I guess.”
I sniped him from across the game arena as the feeling of pride washed over me. I was glad Monica had a good time at group. She needed that normalcy. I hoped, in some small way, my presence and our interactions had been some small contributor to her good mood.
“You’d be grumpy too if everyone was hovering around you and not letting you do anything and you couldn’t remember the last six months of your life. Have a little empathy, dude.”
I zeroed in on the regeneration spot and sniped him again.
Bryce paused the game and turned to me, his eyebrow raised. “Have a little empathy? Who are you, Dr. Phil? Of course, I feel bad for her. She ismysister after all.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not saying you should feel bad for her. She doesn’t want your pity. I’m just saying… try to understand what she’s going through.”
“What’s the difference?” Matteo chimed in from across the room, where he was studying for a certification test.
“What?” I ran away from a grenade and tried to find Bryce in the maze of the destroyed city.
Bryce pointed a finger at Matteo and then at me. “Good question. You said not to pity her, but to empathize. What’s the difference?”
“Understanding that she’s having a tough time is different than feeling sorry forpoor Monica.”
