The Surprise (Single in Seattle 0.50)

“Don’t hit me, okay?”

Her eyebrows wing up into her hairline. “I’ve never been violent before.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a first time for everything. I was hoping you’d be listening yesterday. And, if you were listening, and you heard me say what I did, I hoped that it would piss you off enough to seek me out and kick my ass so I could talk to you.”

She licks her bottom lip, seeming to soak in the information. “Have you ever heard of something called a phone? You just call a person. Or, there’s this newer thing where you can text them and talk in little messages. There’s no need to bait a girl on the radio.”

“Okay, when you put it like that, it might sound childish.”

“It might?”

“I tried calling you, Jose. It always goes to voicemail. So, I stopped. I guess I was trying to get your attention.”

“Well, you succeeded. And it pissed me off. Because I didn’t dump you.”

“You keep saying that, but you left.” I swallow hard, remembering how it’d felt when she walked away, her mind made up. “And I didn’t want you to.”

“I had an incredible job opportunity,” she insists. “And it was only for a year. We could have survived a year of long-distance while I did the travel-nurse thing. I made almost three years’ salary in that one year, Brax. That’s a lot of money. And I was honest with you about it. You gave me the ultimatum: Stay, or we’re done.”

I wince at that. I can’t deny it. I did. “I panicked,” I admit. “I knew for damn sure that I didn’t want you to go. I didn’t like being away from you for a day, let alone a whole year, and I didn’t want you to go. I was a selfish prick. I get that. And you called my bluff, which I didn’t expect.”

“It wasn’t right,” she says with a strong voice. “To ask me to choose.”

“No,” I agree immediately. “It wasn’t. And I regretted it as soon as I said the words.”

Her mouth drops open in surprise. “What? Well, why didn’t you just say so at the time?”

“Pride. Stubbornness. Idiocy.”

“Jackassery,” she suggests. “Childish tantrums. Ridiculous, boneheaded, moronic…” she continues, ticking the items off on her fingers.

“Okay, I get it,” I say with a chuckle. “I am all of those things. Especially, then. But damn it, my heart was busted up, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“We never had communication issues before,” she says, shaking her head. “Then, one day, I tell you that I need to do something for my career because it would be an amazing learning experience, and I’d be able to get ahead financially, and you basically tell me no. That if I do, I can’t have you.”

“Not my finest moment.”

“What if the tables were turned, Brax?” she asks, getting worked up again. “What if you got a tour deal with someone like Nash, and you had to be gone for a year or longer? What if I told you no? Said, ‘Nope, you’d better turn it down, or I’m out of here.’ Not cool, right? And I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“First of all, Leo Nash hates me because you’re his niece, and we broke up. Secondly, listen, I’ve had a lot of time without you. And, like I said, I’ve regretted that day every minute since. I’m not proud of how I acted, and if you walk out of here now without looking back, I won’t blame you. But I needed to come clean and apologize because I am sorry. I’ve never regretted anything in my life the way I regretted how I treated you. And I know I’ll never regret anything else so badly. You didn’t deserve that. Neither of us did.”

“You should have just talked to me,” she says. The wind seems to leave her sails, and she slumps against the couch. “I haven’t seen you in two years because you had a panic attack.”

“Well, now it just sounds stupid.”

She glances at me and raises a brow. “It is stupid.”

“Yeah. It is.” I mimic her position and lean my head back on the couch. “God, my head hurts.”

“When was the last time you took something for the pain?”

“Just before you came over. I’ve stuck to your strict med schedule, don’t worry.”

“You look like you got hit by a bus instead of a Corolla.”

I sigh and close my eyes. “I hate that the other guy died, Jose. I know he was drunk and stupid, and he almost killed both of us, but fucking hell, it sucks.”

She takes my hand and links our fingers, squeezing mine. “I know. It sucks big time. You need a shower, by the way.”

I roll my head so I can look at her. “Are you implying that I smell?”

“Not implying at all. Stating a fact. Can you maneuver your way upstairs?”