Page 3 of Snowed In with My Ex

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath. “I forgot you were there,” he mumbled, and I chuckled softly.

“I saw how you looked at her. Then I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was just someone you thought was attractive. She was a cute girl. I wouldn’t have blamed you. Then you told me how they broke up in front of you and didn’t say anything else. Not until later last summer. Then suddenly, you kept going to the movies,” I reminded him. Nick had thought he was so slick, and maybe if we didn’t know one another the way we did, I wouldn’t have noticed.

“So?”

“So?” I shook my head. “Man, I know you. You hate going to the movies. That’s why you set up a theatre room here.”The poor lovelorn schmuck.

“Maybe—"

“Maybe she works there?” His silence was the confirmation I needed. “I’ve been with you to the movies, Nick. I’ve seen how you look around trying to be subtle while you watch out for her when you think I’m not paying attention. Not to mention the fact you had us change gyms.”

“I told you it’s closer—“ Thankfully, he stopped mid-sentence and stared at me for a beat before he went and outright lied. “She goes there,” he finally admitted.

“I know that, too.” My lips twitched.

“I know, but I didn’t know you––“

“Noticed her? Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have. I mean, it was suspicious you would rather go to that run-down place than the state-of-the-art gym we went to before, but I did notice the way you almost dropped a free weight last month when you saw some trainer talking to her.”

“He was too fucking close,” Nick growled. I didn’t blame him. The thought of some asshole getting close to Allie would have me seeing red, too. Just thinking about the men she worked with already made it fucking hard to chew. Especially her dipshitboss. Now that she dumped my ass, I couldn’t be around to make my claim known.

“So, why don’t you talk to her? Ask her out?” I asked. I loved Nick like a brother. He was my best friend and business partner. Together, we had made our way through business, creating more for ourselves than we would have ever dreamt of.

“She’s young,” he reminded me, but I rolled my eyes. She was young but not too young. Plus, time was a sneaky bitch. One moment, you’re in your twenties trying to figure it out, and then suddenly, all of it’s gone, and you’re left a shell of who you used to be.

“And?” I challenged. He didn’t seem too surprised by that. He knew the kind of man I was. I went after what I wanted. Always. No matter what. It’s how I charmed Allie all those months ago.

Now…. I shook the thought away. This wasn’t about me. It was about Nick.

“And?” I repeated. My best friend shook his head and sighed.

“Win, she dated Noah.” The argument was flimsy at best. They had only dated for a couple of months at the end of their senior year. Noah had had his share of girlfriends since.

“I don’t know, man.” I sighed as this thing inside me, this growing ache that had started when Allie dumped me, started to gnaw at me. “I mean, look, I get it. I get the situation isn’t the best but…” My voice drifted to nothing, and my eyes dropped to the top of Nick’s desk. The dark wood color was the same as Allie’s eyes.

“What?” Nick asked, snapping me out of my heartbroken thoughts.

“Life’s too short, Nick. Especially when it comes to your happiness. I was there when you and Noah’s mom found out you guys were expecting. I was by your side when you two tried tomake something of it even though it wasn’t working, and I was there when you walked away. I know you.”

“And?”

“I hate seeing you unhappy,” I pointed out. Not when one of us could be happy. I’d fucked up my chances by trying to do the right thing. But somewhere along the line of trying to do that right thing, I’d made Allie think I didn’t want her. Fuck, I would never want anyone but her.

“I’m not unhap?—"

“You are,” I cut him off because honestly, it was stupid. Life was too damn short to sit around and wait for that right time. “We’re forty. How long do you think we got? Twenty, thirty years if we’re lucky? I know you. I know that this last year and a half, with the way you’ve been working, putting in crazy hours, you’ve been doing it to stay away from her. I wasn’t sure at first, but I am now. But the thing is, what’s the point if you’re going to work yourself into an early grave?”

“Win—"

“You won’t be doing anyone any favors doing that shit,” I muttered. “You remember me asking you about fatherhood a couple of weeks ago?”

“About being ready?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “What did you tell me?”

“No matter what, you won’t ever be ready. It’s just one of those things that either happen or you jump in to try and make happen and then roll with the punches having a family tosses at you.” And fuck me, that had gutted me. He hadn’t been wrong. Roll with the punches. The idea of screwing Allie’s dreams didn’t settle well with me.

“Now, look, I know I don’t have kids, but I have let myself fall in love a couple of times, so I can tell you there is never a right or wrong time. You just make do with your situation and hold on until you can’t.”