little bit. “Ja. So between that and the whole I might be going to space thing… It's not perfect, is what I'm getting at.”
He picks up his beer, regarding me over the rim. After a long swallow, he sets his glass down. “It sounds like she knows about you going to space, right?”
I nod.
“Then it sounds like she's sticking around for the long haul. So I would definitely bear that in mind.”
I push out my cheek with my tongue. “Ja, she has already set a deadline on this whole wedding business. We're supposed to pull the escape latch when it's been four months.”
He frowns. “Pull the escape latch? What, from your relationship? Are you serious? How are you gonna do that?”
My neck heats and I give him sheepish look. “I hadn't thought that far, honestly.”
“She's crazy, if that's really what she intends to do. Because I will bet you more money than either of us has that she loves you as much as you love her. It's obvious enough if you spend two minutes with the two of you.”
I roll my eyes. “She doesn’t love me. She's just playing along because I begged her to do this as a favor for me.”
He looks unimpressed. “I say that she's doing it for love. Those are the facts, man. She loves you. She's known you for half of your lives and yet she still loves you like crazy.”
“If she does love me, which I doubt, she has a funny way of showing it. I'm telling you, this wall of hers is inpenetrable. There is no getting through it. And when her wall is up? It's useless trying to get around it.”
One corner of Erik's mouth curls up. “I think that's your challenge, my friend. No one said that love was going to be easy, did they?”
I exhale a long breath. “I think there is a difference between loving someone from a distance and really falling in love with a girl. Right? I mean, I've loved the person that Pippa is for a long time. But it's almost easier in a way to love someone as a friend because all those little imperfections and quirks… You can just let those go. That can be okay because you are friends. But loving someone in a deeper, more meaningful way?” I shake my head and take a sip of my beer. “That isn’t for everyone.”
Our steaks arrive, sizzling and smelling absolutely amazing. We dig in, the conversation naturally sliding onto easier topics. But Erik's words ring through my head for hours afterward.
Could Pippa really love me? Or more to the point, could I really be in love with her?
That idea unsettles me as much as it excites me and I can't get the thought out of my head.
25
Lars
Finn takes off his shirt and cracks his neck, standing up straight. He passes his gaze around the small locker room, biting his lip. “Thanks for inviting me here, big brother. Ever since I got back from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya, I’ve felt like my whole system is out of whack or something. I think what I need is really a good long soak.”
I shed my T-shirt, standing up. “No problem. After all, how often do we get the chance for a little bonding time? You're always out of the country.”
Finn smiles, pushing his hand through his dark wavy hair. At the moment, he is letting his hair grow out a little, so it is hanging down in his eyes in the front. Not my style exactly, but it does let me know what I would look like if I ever decided to grow out my military style haircut. His eyes twinkle a little mischievously.
“I can't believe I asked Kalindi and she actually agreed to come. I figured that she would say that she was too busy or something.”
I cock a brow at him. “Ja? I always thought that she kind of liked you, at least the few times that Nika has brought her around. I figured that she just had better things to do than to waste time with either of us. I mean… We're not even the good royals.”
Finn cracks a smile at that. “You are right about that. We are the second and third string of the royal family, for sure.” He wrinkles his nose. “I don't know, I kind of like it this way though. I mean, Stellan is so consumed with being king. I am not consumed with any particular thing except