Tall, good looking, and bone-deep kind. How had she not seen before that they could be so much more than friends? It was as if she’d been wearing a blindfold and his kiss had slipped it off and let the light in.
Gia backed up. She needed time to absorb all this. “Mike?”
“Haven’t you figured out by now, Gia, that I want way more than just friendship from you?”
“I . . . I . . .” She was speechless, rocked by the paradigm-shifting idea of her friend becoming her lover.
They knew almost everything there was to know about each other, but still there was this mystery of seeing him in an entirely new light. She wondered what he’d be like in bed. How fun and comfortable sex would be with her best friend. He’d been there for all the big moments in her life. Was still here, looking at her as if she was the most precious thing on earth. Her heart filled hot and bright as the sun.
“But this is too soon. I can see you’re not ready to absorb it all. The depth of my feelings took me by surprise, too, but kissing you . . . Gia, I want to find out where this could go. I hope you do too.”
“Oh, Mike.”
“If you don’t feel the same way, I get it. I understand. It’s too much to expect that you’ve been harboring feelings for me as well. I’m gonna back off now. I’m gonna go.” And with that, he pivoted and almost ran out the door.
Gia sank down on the couch, the air leaking from her lungs in a long, slow exhale. She had not seen this coming. But it made perfect sense. They knew each other so well.
Mike.
Dear sweet Mike.
She thought of all the things she loved about him. There were so many. How he couldn’t carry a tune in a paper bag and yet he loved to belt out karaoke. His love of roller coasters and B movies with sappy happy endings. How excited he got about the simplest things—flowers in bloom and butterflies in the yard, sea turtles and their nesting habits, taking long walks on the beach and flying kites. How he looked after her grandmother and fixed things around the house when the three sisters were gone.
His readiness to help anyone in need. His steadfastness. His honorable nature.
Maybe that’s why she’d never gotten serious about anyone she’d dated. At the back of her mind, had she always secretly yearned for Mike?
Her heart thumped crazily. Hope was a dangerous thing, but she clung to it with all her might.
He was right.
She had to stop trying to please everyone else and do what made her happy. But now wasn’t the time. Grammy came first. No matter what. Time was running out for her grandmother. Even if she made it out of the hospital, the cancer was inevitable.
Pippa’s offer stroked her ego, but it wasn’t her only opportunity. The kites could wait. If Pippa was this impressed over her kites, other people would be too. She was young. She had time. She could build her career slowly.
Her family came first. That’s what pleased her. Mike might argue, but Gia knew it was true. She couldn’t be fully happy until she knew her sisters and her grandmother were going to be okay.
And in all honesty, she wasn’t ready for the quick blowup of her career. If Pippa had kites at her wedding, other celebrities would want them at their weddings too. Not just celebrities, but regular people. And, while it might make for a fat bank account, it also meant giving up her goal of mending her family.
For a moment, she’d let the allure of stardom dazzle her head.
She didn’t need Pippa Grandon. She was happy. She had a good life. She loved making her kites and taking her time in doing it. A rush order would lead to shortcuts and the quality would suffer . . .
No, her family came first. Because if she and her sisters didn’t fix things now, she feared they never would. Madison would return to New York and Shelley, well, who knew what Shelley would do.
And Gia?
What about her?
There was only one right choice. Gia picked up her phone and called Pippa, thanked her for her generous offer, but bowed out of making kites for her wedding.
“If you change your mind,” Pippa said, “you’ve got a job. The more I think about those kites, the more I have to have them.