What If You & Me (Say Everything #2) - Roni Loren Page 0,17

in his mouth, chewing with more aggression than necessary.

“She wouldn’t laugh,” Ramsey said, going back to his fries. “And awkwardness never killed anyone. At least you’d be putting yourself out there. That’s better than this hermit routine you’ve got going on.”

Hill put more chips in his mouth, choosing not to honor the hermit comment with a response. He couldn’t deny his hermit state, but he also couldn’t justify venturing back into the dating world. Everyone came with a little baggage, but he had so much right now, he’d have to rent off-site storage to house all of it. No woman deserved that in her life.

“All I’m saying,” Ramsey said after taking a long swig of iced tea, “is that you need to look at the law of inertia.”

“Inertia,” Hill said flatly. “We’re having a physics discussion now?”

“Yes. I’m not saying you should go out in search of the love of your life. Or even go out and search for your next long-term career—though I’m sticking by my cookbook suggestion. All that stuff is really big, heavy shit. You don’t need more heavy stuff right now. But you also can’t keep doing what you’re doing because of inertia.” He took an ice cube out of his glass and set it on the table between them. “An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by a force.” He pointed at the ice cube. “You are the object at rest. Your ass is going to sit there, unmoving, and let the rest of your life melt away.”

Hill gave him a droll look.

“Unless.” Ramsey flicked his finger, sending the cube sailing across the table and into Hill’s lap. “Some force acts upon it—like me.”

Hill brushed the ice cube onto the floor. “You’re a force all right. Newton’s fourth law—the law of pains in the ass.”

Ramsey smirked. “I will gladly be a pain in the ass if it means getting you out of this dark, depressing place you’re in. You need to get into motion, just a little bit, and then it will be easier to keep moving. Like asking your hot neighbor out would’ve put things in motion, even if she said no. It would’ve been easier the next time to ask someone else.”

Hill let out a breath, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

“Look, I can’t say I’ve been there,” Ramsey went on. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but I’ve had times in my life when I’ve felt stuck. If you stop moving, you get more stuck, more hopeless. So even if moving forward is the last thing you feel like you have the energy to do, you have to force yourself sometimes—even if it’s little things. It’s like working out. No one wants to do it, but the more you do it, the easier it is. Then it starts feeling good. Then you’re running miles and can’t remember why you used to hate working out.”

Hill pushed his plate aside. “Right.”

“And believe me, remembering how great it is to get laid is a way quicker trajectory than learning how to love working out.” Ramsey picked up his burger with a flash of a grin. “Once you get past that first time, you’re going to wonder why you waited so long to get back out there.”

Hill’s neck muscles tightened. He had not forgotten how great sex was or even just making out on the couch, but imagining doing those things now—with this new body and all its scars—made dread wash through him. After his accident, Christina had stopped sleeping with him. At first he’d thought it was because she was afraid she’d hurt him, but once he’d found out about Josh, he’d figured out the truth. She wasn’t attracted to him anymore and was getting what she needed from someone else.

“I don’t think I’m ready for the dating scene yet, but I hear what you’re saying,” Hill said, knowing his friend’s heart was in the right place. “Maybe I can find some way to get moving on the finding-a-new-career thing. Andi offered to give me a tour of the coworking space where she has an office. She said meeting people who are doing all kinds of different things can be inspiring. And there’s a test kitchen there that food vloggers use.”

Ramsey paused midbite and lowered his burger. “What the fuck? You let me get halfway through lunch without telling me that part? She wants to show you around where she works? Help you figure out what you want to be