“Okay, okay,” Aimee replied. It was the third time in a row, but her daughter’s impish face was too cute to deny. “Once upon a time…”
Just as she started, she heard the door slam and Nick’s footsteps echoing in the hall. “Nick’s home!” Caitlin said happily. She jumped off the couch and toddled out of the room, expecting her mother to follow her, but Aimee leaned back and made herself comfortable. Knowing Nick would not want to confront her about the previous night if she was not in a good mood, she closed her eyes and tried to look like she didn’t feel well.
In a few minutes, he and Caitlin walked into the room. “I’m gonna go play in my room,” Caitlin said. With that, she took off, leaving them alone.
A few minutes of very uncomfortable silence passed before Nick finally spoke up. “Look, I’m not gonna beat around the bush. I’m gonna be blunt and just ask you this straight you. What in the hell was last night?” he demanded harshly.
“I don’t know,” she replied softly, keeping her eyes on the floor.
“I don’t know how to interpret this anymore, Aims. One second, you’re totally into me, and the next, you can’t even look at me. I’m just…baffled by the way you’re acting.”
“I know, I know, and so am I!” She sighed. “But really, Nick, what do you expect when you suddenly decide to tell your best friend of fifteen years you’re in love with her? Did you honestly expect me to say, ‘Let’s give a relationship a shot,’ when that could destroy our friendship?”
“No, I didn’t, but I didn’t expect you to lead me on, either. I know you a lot better than you think, and I know you don’t play games. What makes me different from the other guys, the ones you didn’t play games with?”
“I don’t mean to play games with you. Last night, when you were kissing me, I lost control. It was too amazing of a feeling to make you stop. When we stopped, though, I realized exactly what was going on and what a giant step that would be, and I decided I didn’t wanna take it.”
“I know this is really blunt, again, but I have to know. Do I have any chance at all of ever dating you?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m trying to figure that out, myself.” She paused. “You have no idea how much I’d love to date you. To be honest, since you told me how you felt, I came to terms with my feelings for you, and I think, no, I know I feel the same way, but it’s taken fifteen years to build a friendship like this, and I’m not gonna risk losing that.”
“Sometimes you have to take risks, though. And sometimes good things come out of those risks even if you don’t succeed. Like with Steve, you took a chance, he broke your heart, but you have a wonderful daughter.”
“I can’t, Nick,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
He wiped it away. “Remember what you told me the other night? You said that the chances someone falls in love are really slim, and to fall in love with someone who’s in love with you too is next to impossible. You’ve fallen in love with someone who’s in love with you. You’ve beat the odds. Do you want to risk losing THAT?”
Several excruciating moments went by as he watched her think about that comment. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She just pulled his face to hers and kissed him. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly when they pulled apart. “I had to do that.”
“I…I…wow,” he said, dazed. “Why?”
“I couldn’t find the words to tell you you’re right and I love you. I was speechless.”
“So you think I’m right.”
“Yeah, you are. I’m not about to risk losing something so rare.” She grinned.