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“He talked with an accent. And I haven’t seen him in seven years, JJ. He’s all manly now. Filled out. Muscular. Different.”
She sat there, staring at me, her mouth slightly ajar before it turned into a wicked grin. “And he knew you’d be there? That’s the whole reason he went?”
I nodded. “Apparently.”
“That’s kind of hot, don’t you think?” She wagged her eyebrows, and I knew she was enjoying this a little too much.
That was the exact problem. “I do think it’s hot. But I don’t want to be stupid. That’s why I need your advice. You’re a neutral party.”
“I’m not though,” she argued. “I mean, not really. I’m on your side.Always.” She emphasized the last word.
Wrapping my hands around the coffee cup, I spun it back and forth, the warmth feeling good. “No, I know that. But I think you’ll be able to see things rationally. Logically.”
“And you can’t?” she asked, questioning my judgment. “I’ve never known you to be irrational. Unless it comes to your company, then you’re a little batshit crazy, but otherwise…” Her laugh stopped the rest of her words.
“I want to make the right decision,” I tried to explain. This shouldn’t have been anywhere near as hard as I was making it, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
JJ shook her head and looked me dead in the eyes. “What does your heart say? How did youfeelwhen you figured out it was him last night?” She put her hand over her heart and waited for my response.
I pictured the moment I’d found out and watched it play out in my head. “Well, I was pissed at first.”
“’Cause he lied,” she said quickly, as if she would have reacted the exact same way.
“Yeah. But after that went away, I was kind of excited.”
She smiled big and clapped her hands together. “Who wouldn’t be? You finally got what you’d always wanted. The guy not only apologized, but he also wants another chance.”
Her words should have been comforting, but they had the opposite effect. Iwasgetting what I’d always hoped for—Tyson regretting leaving me behind. I’d hated being discarded like trash. I’d felt so replaceable and unimportant.
But now that he was finally telling me all the things I’d once longed for, was it just my ego that needed to hear it?
“What’s wrong?” JJ asked, her tone now full-on concerned.
“I was just psychoanalyzing myself.”
She blew out a long, annoyed breath as she wagged two fingers in the air. “Nope. You’re making this into something it’s not.”
“This is a big deal for me,” I complained.
“Yeah, yeah.” She sounded annoyed at my level of seriousness. “It’s really not though.”
A laugh escaped me. “How can you say that?”
“Because, Eve, you’re acting like this is life or death,” she said overdramatically, clearly making fun of my mental state. “I hate to break it to you, but it’s a fucking relationship. They come and go. Sometimes, they work out, butmostof the time, they don’t. Think about it. We get our heart broken, and then we give it to someone else, hoping they don’t do the same thing. But if they do, we heal, move on, give our heart away again, and the cycle continues.
“Tyson wants another chance with you. I can see it all over your face that you want to give it to him, but you’re scared it won’t work.” She paused for effect. “Again.And so what if it doesn’t? You’ll finally be able to shut that door once and for all and move on. Because I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but you haven’t done that yet. Not really. Not since I’ve known you.”
Her rant struck a nerve. She wasn’t wrong. And apparently, she also wasn’t done.
“And, hey, the flip side is, what if it does work out this time? What if you guys needed to be apart in order to come back together stronger and better than ever? If timing truly is everything, what if this is finally yours? You’ll never know if you don’t go for it. You need to lighten up. See where this takes you. Give him that second chance. If it works, I can’t wait to be the maid of honor at your wedding. And if it doesn’t, we’ll find brothers to marry instead.”
I wasn’t sure if she was finished or not, so I stayed quiet for a moment just to make sure. “That was one heck of a speech.”
“I didn’t mean to get so worked up, but it’s just not that serious, babe. It doesn’t have to be this big, dramatic event every single time. Just go for it and see what happens.”
I couldn’t even tell JJ to follow her own advice because she already did. No wonder she was always going on dates with that mindset.
“I’ve never thought of it that way before.”
