A Guide to Being Just Friends(21)
“Oh my God. That would be the best rom-com,” Megan said, clapping her hands together.
A fellow rom-com lover. Piper often teased her, good-naturedly, for that as well. Hailey looked at Piper. “Listen, I know you’re used to looking out for me but I’ve got this. You don’t need to set me up. I have no intention of meeting anyone right now.”
“Not wanting a relationship doesn’t mean you can’t have some safe fun—”
Megan shoved Rachel’s shoulder. “Stop. You’re going to scare her away from book club.”
Fiona snorted, folding her feet up under her, nestling into the chair. “If she wasn’t concerned that we haven’t cracked a book either time, I think we’re good. So, want a copilot? At least this way you’ll be safe. It’s way harder for him to bury two bodies than one.”
Hailey felt like her head was underwater. Had she really thought her new life would be dull compared to some of the Hollywood glitz and glamour of her old days?
“I guess it would be good for you to see that there are other non-Dorian guys out there even if you’re not ready yet.” Piper picked up a bottle of wine and poured the last dribble into her glass.
The women took turns asking her questions about dating an actor and who she’d met at parties. They’d clearly held back when first meeting Hailey. This time, there were no boundaries. The conversation veered back and forth, off on one tangent, rerouted to another. It was wonderful. Hailey wasn’t sure when she’d last had this: a sense of belonging. These were Piper’s friends but they were accepting her, making her one of their own because of her cousin.
Her life in L.A. had consisted of working, planning for her future, and spending many nights alone in hopes that Dorian would wrap early. She’d stopped herself from really living, and worse, she hadn’t even realized she was missing out.
No more. She toasted herself in her mind: to new adventures, to new friends, and to new beginnings.
9
His brother’s comment about creating the perfect woman stuck in his brain. Was it so wrong that he wanted someone he was compatible with? He had no doubt his brothers would both marry the women they were with. He could feel their love, their attraction. But the truth was, that physical chemistry didn’t equal permanence. As Hailey said, it wasn’t a guarantee—though she had said it with a hint of longing in her tone. To be honest, he didn’t trust those emotional feelings.
He waved to the woman across the way from where he stood at the patio door. She wore a red dressing gown today. He should find out who she was, send her some cake. There was something about her, even though they’d never spoken, that reminded him of his grandmother, whom he adored and missed. She waved back after he’d already settled into thoughts about what he was doing with his life, then laughed out loud.
“Now you’re thinking like Dad.” How many times had his father asked him why he was messing around with “those goddamn games” when he had the brain capacity to do something extraordinary? Of course, by that, his father meant anything that profited his own companies.
Wes was honest enough with himself to know he was similar to his father in many ways. Not the coldhearted, detached way, but certainly a left-brain, analytical thinker. His mother, on the other hand, was as far to the right side of the brain as one could be. Their union had been a disaster. They’d based decision after decision, including their elopement and four children, on a roller-coaster ride of feelings—until the ride crashed. Splintered apart.
He didn’t want that. There’d been no common ground and both of them ended up lost. That was the part Wes feared most: losing himself in another person to the point that without them, he’d end up traipsing around the world like his mother or crushing everything in his path like his father.
Instead, he wanted a smoothly paved road with someone he could care about with limits. Mutual admiration and affection didn’t seem like too much to ask for. Maybe it was foolish but if he could perfectly program a multilevel video game, why couldn’t he plan his love life?
The dating apps weren’t working. He needed the perfect balance of spark and sensibility. There had to be some chemistry but not so much he’d give up his soul. Or his heart. Why was he torturing himself with this? He’d been through enough change in the last couple of months. Adding dating into the equation was doing nothing more than exhausting him. Besides, his life didn’t feel as … aimless at the moment. He smiled, thinking of Hailey. Perhaps he’d just needed a friend.
His phone buzzed with his grocery alarm. Saturday evenings were for shopping at the larger box store. It was quiet and well stocked. Leaving his balcony door open a touch, he added a reminder in his phone to schedule someone to install AC, then double-checked his grocery list against his fridge and cupboards.
If he needed a last-minute item, he could easily walk to one of the smaller convenience shops in the square. Walking was in his blood, being a New Yorker. But it was easier, on these larger, weekly shops, to take the car.
As usual, there were few customers, so he backed his SUV into a spot close to the door. Setting his reusable bags in the front of the cart, he grabbed his sanitizing spray and gave the handles a little spritz before tucking it back in the bag.
With his phone sitting on the bags, list open, he navigated his way to the left, preferring to start on one side and work his way to the other. He loved mundane, simple tasks that needed doing but required no brain power. It was typically when he brainstormed ideas for the gaming worlds or apps he created.