When You're Ready (Ready #1)(4)

“You know Maddie? I think we’ll be able to go home in no time!” I said enthusiastically. She looked over at me and smiled, right before she lifted herself up and hurled over the side of the bed, right on my shoes.

Chapter Two

~Logan~

I don’t even know why I answered the phone. My best friend Colin meant well, but he sounded like a f**king broken record, and I didn’t want to hear it. Mostly because everything he said was true.

"Dude, you’ve got to stop burning the candle at both ends. You're gonna end up leaving a bloody cloth in someone's gut or something," Colin said as I leaned back in the hard plastic chair of the hospital cafeteria, staring at my half eaten dinner. Ham and cheese sandwich that tasted like cardboard, with a side of caffeine. Again.

"Yeah, well everyone has a hobby. Some people cliff dive, others garden or practice meditation. I just happen to excel at going to bars, drinking and picking up women." I don't think he found me nearly as funny as I was trying to appear.

The fact is I was tired.

So f**king tired of everything, and...I just didn’t care anymore. When I left the hospital, I didn’t want to go home. I don’t know why I bought that house in the first place. It was so empty. I moved to Richmond to disappear. Colin thought it was to be closer to him, and yes, it was nice having him around. When I actually bothered seeing him. God, I was an ass. But at least he had Ella. He wasn’t a bachelor anymore, and as happy as I was for him, I was also envious. I hated that feeling. I hated most feelings these days. Going home to the big empty house left me wandering the halls with nothing to do but think. So instead, I went out to a bar or a club, trying to disappear in the crowds of people. Until I got recognized. Do people really not have a life? Since when did billionaires’ kids become so damn interesting? It did make finding a woman to go home with easier. No one said no to a night with Mitchell Matthew’s son. Too bad I didn’t actually stay until morning.

“So, that's not really the reason I was calling," he said with a nervous twitch in his voice. Why was he nervous? In all the years I’d known him, Colin had never been nervous about anything. He always faced everything head on with balls of steel. I still remember the night he’d met his wife, back when I’d still be a decent guy to hang out with, before I’d turned into the bastard I was now. We were at a crowded bar around campus when he first spotted her, walking in with a date. He said he knew at first sight she was “the one” and had to talk to her before she disappeared into the crowd. Thinking he was crazy, I turned to tell him so, but he was already gone. A man on a mission. He dodged people left and right, even jumping over a table full of people to get to her. Finally reaching her table, he kneeled down in front of her, totally ignoring her date, and looked up at her with his trademark shit-eating grin and said, "You're going to be the mother of my children, and I've been sitting in this bar waiting my whole life for you. So why don't you say goodbye to this loser and go someplace with me?"

The whole bar was silent by now, having witnessed the table jumping shenanigans and heard his declaration of love. She looked around, turning red from all the attention, when suddenly her horrified face transformed into a mischievous smile. Thinking he’d won her over, he smiled back, waiting for her to say yes and follow him into the sunset or whatever.

Instead, she poured her entire margarita on his head.

The whole bar erupted in laughter and applause. Rather than walk around in defeat, he stood and strode back over to our table, red slush sliding down his face, and sat back down looking like he just scored a winning touchdown.

"Why the hell do you look so cocky? You just got turned down in front of the whole damn bar," I said, trying hard not to laugh, and not succeeding.

"Just wait," he grinned.

And so we did. We sat there and finished our drinks and ordered more. An hour or so went by, and when our third round came by, the waitress dropped Colin's drink in front of him, along with a napkin. He held it up triumphantly showing a phone number along with the name Ella. They've been driving each other crazy ever since. Unfortunately, my luck in that department had not been so good. But then, I’d been raised by a money-loving ass**le, so what do I know about love?

"Why do you sound so damn nervous all of a sudden?" I asked, running my hands through my messy dark brown hair. I didn't like nervous Colin.

“Got a call from Gabe the other day. He called to tell me Melanie’s pregnant. He wanted to call and tell you himself, but he wasn't sure how you'd take it. You guys haven't exactly spoken since the divorce.” I was silent; I didn’t know what to say. Did he expect me to react?

"Anyway, I thought you should know. It's fairly new. I think they're only a couple months along. Melanie is really excited. I know what the two of them did was shitty on an epic level, and I know they don't deserve our forgiveness, but at the end of the day, they're some of our oldest friends. And they're trying. I guess I'm trying, too. I think I still want to kick Gabe's ass again, that was fun.”

“I know, Colin. I get it. Honestly, I'm happy for them. Especially Melanie. She's finally getting everything she ever wanted.” Everything I couldn't give her.

“If you talk to Gabe, tell him I’m happy for them. I...I can’t do it yet. I can’t talk to them, not yet,” I said. Of course, it’s not for the reasons he thinks. I didn’t deserve to talk to either of them. I’d wronged them and they didn’t need me and my shit in their life anymore.