Chapter Thirty – Josh

“So do you want to tell me what has you staring off into space?” Brad asked me, taking a bite of his hamburger.

“What?”

He laughed. “Josh, ever since the graduation party for Ellie, you’ve been in another world. What’s going on?”

Her blue eyes came to mind, and I felt my chest squeeze. It was a feeling I’d never experienced before. No. That was a lie. I felt it the first time I looked at Heather, Ellie’s friend. I felt it every time I thought about her. It didn’t take me long to figure out that it had been Heather and Amanda that I had seen on the side of the road all those months ago with a flat tire. It had been Heather sitting in the passenger seat that night. I’d felt my chest squeeze when our eyes met and then again at the party, when I actually walked up to her and talked to her. Her voice, her smile, the sound of her voice.

She had me twisted from the inside out.

“Nothing’s going on.”

He gave me a look that said he didn’t believe a damn word I was saying.

I decided to change the subject. “So how do you like this girl Amanda?”

The smile on his face said it all. “I like her a lot.”

“Exclusive?”

“Hell yeah. I’ve practically seen her every damn day since the party.”

Laughing, I replied, “That was over a month ago.”

He took another bite of his sandwich. “Yeah, so what’s your point?”

My shoulders lifted, “No point. I guess I was just pointing out that you’ve been with the same girl for over a month. Is that a record?”

“Unlike you, my friend, I don’t have a revolving door with women coming and going.”

I grinned. Little did he know I’d put a lock on the door. Well, I didn’t . . . a beautiful, innocent-looking Heather had put a lock on it. Anytime I tried to hook up with a girl, I couldn’t. All I could see was her eyes. Her smile. Smell the perfume she had on.

It was driving me fucking crazy.

“Well, we all can’t be blessed with the tools to attract the women.”

Brad laughed and shook his head. “You can keep your tools. I think this one is the one.”

Leaning in closer, my mouth dropped slightly open. “What? The one? How in the hell could you possibly know that after a month?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a stupid grin. “I feel things with her that I’ve never felt before.”

My heart nearly stopped.

“You know, the way your chest tightens when you see her smile or the way your breath stops when she laughs.”

The way I was staring at him had to be a sign that I had no earthly clue what he was talking about.

“Brad, don’t do this to me. First Gunner falls for Ellie, then Jeff loses his damn mind over Ari, and now you’re doing this to me? You’re leaving me for ‘the one’?”

He laughed. “Jeff hasn’t lost his damn mind. He just can’t admit to himself he likes Ari and has for a while, just like you can’t admit you like Heather.”

Her name made my chest feel like it just dropped down to my stomach.

“You’re fucking crazy, dude. I don’t like Heather.”

Brad’s left brow rose, as if he was daring me to say it again.

“I. Don’t. Like. Heather.”

“So let me ask you something. Since the graduation and the other day when you saw her, when she was with Amanda and they stopped by my place, you didn’t look twice at her?”

“Of course I did. She’s beautiful and has a nice body.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. You haven’t thought about her once?”

I looked down at my uneaten hamburger. “No.” It was a mumbled response.

“What was that?”

“My hamburger is getting cold.”

“Jesus, you like her.”

I scoffed. “I do not. I want in her pants. There’s a difference.”

He shook his head. “Josh Hayes, I know you, and I’ve been around you long enough to know that if you wanted into Heather’s pants, you would have been all over her at the graduation party and when you saw her again at Jeff and Gunner’s place, and the other day at my place. Dude, you barely said two words to her.”

“She’s shy!” I replied, taking a bite of my burger.

Brad stared at me like I had just sprouted two heads.

“She’s not fucking shy. If I remember right, the other day she was the one who started talking to you. Asked how you had been, and you could hardly form a sentence! Holy shit! How did I not see this before? It’s happened!”

“What’s happened?” I asked.

“You met the one.”

I stared at Brad for a good solid minute. Letting his words sink in because I knew he was fucking right.

“Fine. I like her, and that confuses me.”

“Why?”

How did I tell Brad that I had been longing to find someone like he had with Amanda? That I was tired of the revolving door? That I wanted to wake up each morning holding the same girl in my arms, smelling her heavenly scent and looking into her beautiful blue eyes?

That’s when it hit me.

Heather was the one.

Oh holy shit.

And that scared the shit out of me.

“It just hit you, didn’t it?” Brad asked before shoving a few fries into his mouth.

I dropped back against my chair and let out a pained groan. This couldn’t be happening. Shaking my head, I pushed my fingers through my hair and laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“I can’t fall for a girl like Heather. She’s too perfect. Innocent. Beautifully untainted. I’d ruin her.”

Brad frowned. “How would you ruin her?”

“I just would. What if I don’t know how to be with one girl? What if I cheated on her?”

“You were with Victoria.”

I shivered at the mention of her name. “You know we don’t speak of her.”

Brad snorted. “That’s right. The one who shall not be brought up. Anyway, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, dude. Sit back, chill with the other woman, and get to know Heather. I mean really get to know her and see what happens.”

For the first time in over a month, I was able to make sense of the confusing thoughts running in my head and my body. I desired Heather Lambert; there was no denying that. And I was positive that was not about to change anytime soon.

I needed to just give it time. See where these feelings led me and get to know Heather. I could do that. I could totally do that.

Nodding my head, I smiled as I picked up my hamburger and took a bite.

“See what happens. I think I like that plan, bro.”

Brad smiled and lifted his bottle of Coke up in a toast. “To the one.”

With a smile of my own, I lifted my beer and clinked it against his glass.

This was going to be a fun and very interesting ride.