My only option was to move on. I’d wasted too much of my life obsessing over Holden Reed. And like the opening theme song to Dawson’s Creek, I didn’t want to wait for my life to be over. I needed to live my life, even if it wasn’t with the person I wanted to live it with.
Shaking off the melancholy cloud that arrived every time I thought about how badly I missed him, I went to the closet to grab my shoes. After slipping on my camel wedges, I stood and took a deep breath.
“Ready?”
Molly never looked up from her device as she stood and followed me out of my bedroom and down the stairs.
“Be a good boy, Channing.” On our way out I bent down and kissed Channing, who was sacked out. He’d been so tired lately when I came home from work. Usually, he was a bundle of energy, but lately he’d been so calm and chill. I figured he must be chasing squirrels in the backyard or something.
As soon as we stepped outside into the crisp evening air, my eyes did what they always did and cut to the right to see if there were any signs of Holden even though there never were.
“I heard Kenna asked him out.”
“She asked who out?”
“Holden.” Molly motioned to his door, still staring down at her Kindle.
“Oh.” My heart sank. Kenna was the epitome of the sexy girl next door, which was basically every man’s type. Besides having full lips, huge green eyes, and a butt that didn’t stop, her long chestnut hair always looked like she was a walking Pantene commercial.
“I don’t think he’s interested,” Molly continued. “Kenna said that Mrs. Nelson thought he might be gay, but I told her that Bentley had said that he had a girlfriend. Some model, I forget her name. So that was probably why he didn’t text her back.”
Oh shit.
How could I have possibly forgotten his girlfriend? Was I the other woman? Was he a cheater? Was that why he’d so readily agreed to it just being that one night?
My mind started replaying what I’d done since he’d gotten back into town. The naked yoga. Showing up at his house with my mom’s famous fried chicken. Telling him he owed me a kiss and then telling him that I wanted to feel him inside of me.
I could feel my cheeks heat. I’d aggressively pursued him at one of his weakest moments. Was I going to have to take a page out of another Julia Roberts classic My Best Friend’s Wedding and have the I’m-the-bad-guy talk with him?
A sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.
“Are you okay? You look…weird.”
I must really look strange if my sister had noticed.
“I’m fine.” And more determined for tonight to be a success.
It was time that I put Holden and my feelings for him behind me and focus on my future, which hopefully would be with Dr. Jake Weston.
“So what’s the deal with this guy tonight? Did you meet him on an app?” she asked as she put her device in her purse.
“Yes. We went out a couple of nights ago and I… liked him.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, referring to my hesitation.
“Yeah, he’s nice.”
She smiled widely. “Oh yeah, that’s the word every guy wants to be described as…nice.”
“He is nice,” I reiterated.
“Is he a good kisser?” she followed up.
“I don’t know. We didn’t kiss.”
“You didn’t kiss him?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Did you want to kiss him?”
“I didn’t really think about it.” At the end of the night, we hugged and that was it. It seemed fine at the time.
“That explains the nice,” she reasoned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re not attracted to him,” she stated bluntly.
“He is very attractive.”
“I’m sure he is, but you are not attracted to him.”
“He’s a doctor,” I said defensively.
“And?”
“And he lives in Parish Creek.” I knew that my sister had asked “and” in the context of “so what?” but I ignored that because I needed her to get on board with me. I felt like he was my ticket to get over Holden. I could hear myself making a case and, in the back of my mind, I knew that it was to convince me, not my sister. “Family is really important to him. He has a younger brother and sister and wants kids. He’s new to the area. He moved here after accepting a job at a rehab facility specializing in sports-related physical therapy.”