Page 30 of Finding Romance (Romances in the Building #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Kasen

There’s a knock at my door. I’m in no mood to talk to anyone, but I so desperately am hoping that Piper changed her mind and stayed that I open it without looking.

I sigh when I realize it’s just Hutch.

“Damn, glad to see you too,” he says as he pushes in past me.

“Please, come in,” I grumble as I shut the door.

“Can you tell me why Piper just got in a car and left for the airport?” Hutch asks, his arms crossed and his face serious.

“Because she’s going to her dad’s,” I answer. But inside, I’m thinking, because I’m an idiot and let her go. And I’ll never forgive myself for not giving us a real chance, even though I still think she’s better off without me.

He holds up his hand. “Nope. Stop that right there, fuckwad. You are a total idiot if you are letting her go.”

“Geez, thanks,” I mutter.

“I’m serious, bro. She’s your perfect match. She made you light up. I’ve never once seen you as happy as you are when she’s around,” he says.

“Hutch, it was pretend. I was helping her out. I was giving her dating lessons and stuff,” I say, glossing over the sex that happened between us.

He raises an eyebrow. “Right. How long do you plan on lying to yourself?”

“I’m not lying.”

“You know, for someone who is a million times smarter than me, you are a real stupid fucker. You may have started out playing some ‘big brother, I’ll show you the ropes’ man, but somewhere along the line, you fell for her and she fell for you.

This stopped being pretend days ago, maybe a week or two ago or more.

Do you seriously want to give all that up?

Not even give it a go? For what? Because you think she deserves something else? ” he says.

“She deserves better. What if I can’t give her everything she needs?” I explain, admitting my feelings to my friend for the first time.

“Remember when you first got Napoleon?” Hutch asks as he walks over to my tank.

“I almost killed the poor guy,” I state dryly.

“Exactly. Almost. But you figured it out. You worked hard to save him and look at him now. Happy as a…sea anemone,” Hutch says, slowing down over the last few words.

“Mate, it was a pet. Piper is a person,” I say, not getting his analogy at all.

“I’m trying to say that when something is important to you, you do everything you can to make sure it’s alright.

Relationships are hard, but I’ve already seen how you’ve changed.

You protect her; you look out for her; you rearranged your schedule to be there for her.

How is that not being the person she deserves? ” Hutch asks.

I sit down on my sofa. “You’re right,” I finally state. Because he is right. I did a lot of things just to help her because I care about her. Fuck. I love Piper. I need her. She needs me. What the hell have I done?

I stand abruptly. “I need to get her back!”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. Let’s go. Uh, we need Bray’s car,” Hutch says. He pulls out his phone and texts. “OK, he’s meeting us downstairs. Let’s go.”

“We?” I ask.

“Yeah, we . You need to buy yourself a ticket to Seattle, right now,” Hutch instructs. I get on my phone as we walk downstairs and find that there are a handful of tickets left on what I assume is her flight. I buy one.

Bray’s already parked out front in his fancy sports car which is completely impractical for city driving.

“Get in, losers, we’re going to get Kasen’s woman,” Bray calls out from the driver’s seat.

I look at Hutch, a man that makes even me seem normal-sized.

“I’ll fit,” he says, as if reading my mind.

“How? Is this a clown car?” I quip.

“Just get the fuck in,” he mutters as he climbs into the back. He has to keep his head ducked down and he looks ridiculous. “Bray?”

Bray turns around. “Do not get in an accident.”

Bray laughs. “Right. Come on, Kase.”

I climb in and he takes off at Mach speed down the street and straight to the airport.

The entire ride is Bray and Hutch coaching me on what to say, which ranges from ridiculous love sonnets to baring my heart.

“None of that works,” I say as Bray pulls off onto the airport exit.

“Fine, then just tell her the truth. Speak from the heart, man,” Hutch insists. Flashes of recent conversations with Randy, Al, Cornelia, and Cam come rushing back to me. They were all correct. Maybe I needed Piper as much as she needed me. Maybe we both still need each other.

God, I hope she still wants me. Did she want me before? Fuck it. It’s now or never .

Bray pulls up to the airport in record time, peeling into a free spot along the curb.

“Go get your woman,” he says.

I get out of the car. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” I admit in a moment of weakness.

Hutch looks up at me. “You’re going and getting the woman of your dreams. Now, go, go get her.”

I close my eyes and inhale. The air is filled with exhaust but somehow my mind smells floral shampoo, and I know that I need to smell that damn shampoo every day for the rest of my life.

“OK,” I say, mostly to myself, but Hutch fist-pumps.

“Hell, yeah!” he yells.

I run into the airport and get to security. There’s a long line and I groan as I check the time. The plane is already starting to board. I rush to the front of the line.

“Excuse me, I’m running really late. Flat tire. Any chance I can just get through really quick?” I ask a woman who gives me a look.

“Sir, the line starts back there,” she says pointing to where I was.

I swallow. Fuck it . “Listen, I know. And I hate to cut the line, but the woman I love is about to get on a plane and fly away and I can’t let her go without telling her I love her.

I bought a plane ticket just so I can go find her and hopefully talk her out of leaving,” I say, feeling a little silly for baring my soul but also not giving a fuck.

The woman tilts her head to the side.

“Please,” I beg.

“Let the man through,” an old lady in line says.

“You can’t ruin his shot at true love,” a teenager calls out.

A few other passengers chime in with support.

“Fine, go,” she grumbles, and I run up, toss my things in a bin, and go through the scanner.

And, it beeps. Whomp. Whomp.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to check your pockets,” a surly-looking man says.

I do as I’m told, but don’t find anything. Then I remember, my side pants pocket has my keys. Thank God I left my pocket knife at home!

I toss them in one of those little containers and walk back through the scanner. He waves me on, and I grab my keys and continue running to the gate. I make it just in time.

“Well, with only five minutes to spare,” the flight attendant says.

I look up and realize the flight got bumped back five minutes. Thank the gods!

I walk onto the plane and search the rows. And then…I see her. She’s sitting by a window, staring out, and…is she crying?

I wait as people put bags in the overhead compartments. Finally, I reach her row and slide past a college-aged kid sitting on the aisle. I sit down.

“You sad that there’s no lily pads or frogs out there,” I state.

Piper’s head whips around toward me, her eyes wide and glimmering with tears. I reach out wiping a few away from her cheeks.

“Kasen?” she says, her hand coming out to touch my jaw as if she thinks I’m a mirage.

“Yeah, illustrator,” I state as I search her eyes.

“What are you…why are you…how are you here?” she stammers.

I caress her cheek and smile. “I realized that you don’t need to go to Seattle to figure out your life.

” I pause and restate what I’m thinking.

“I don’t want you to go to Seattle. I want you right here.

I want to wake up and smell your shampoo.

I want to watch you talk to my fish while you feed them.

I want to sip whiskey with you. I want to sit in the park while you paint frogs.

I want to drink coffee at Cam’s café with you.

I want…you.” I trail off and search her eyes.

“You want me?” she asks as she frowns in confusion.

“Yes, I just want you, Piper. I never intended to find the one person who completes me. I know we were pretending but…somewhere along the way, I just…I fell in love with you. I didn’t mean to.

I didn’t think I was good enough for you.

But I want to be. You make me want to be better.

I went to therapy because of you. I’m trying to fix myself because of you.

I’m better because of you and if you give me a chance…

” I trail off again overcome by emotion and my racing thoughts.

She places a finger over my lips. “You had me at you fell in love with me .” She smiles. “I love you too, Kasen. I’m not exactly sure how that happened in a matter of weeks, but…it did.” She has new tears falling but her smile tells me these are happy tears. “I’m a little scared,” she admits.

“So am I,” I admit.

“So…we’re, like, going to give this a real try?” she asks.

“If you want to,” I answer.

She grins and throws her arms around my neck. “Let’s deboard. And go home.”

“Home?” I ask.

“Yeah. Home,” she says. We both get up and leave after a long discussion with the gate agent and having to get her bag out of the plane; thank God they were just loading it and Piper faked a sob story about her aunt which was sort of true but also sort of a lie since she broke her ankle nearly six weeks ago.

“How are we getting home?” Piper asks as we walk out of the airport. I point to Bray’s car.

“I called in a favor,” I state as Hutch opens the passenger seat and takes Piper’s suitcase while the two of us slide into the back seats.

“Welcome back, Piper,” Bray says as he steers us home.

* * *

I breathe in the floral shampoo smell in her hair.

It’s been two weeks, and I feel like the whole world has changed.

Piper moved in officially last weekend. I went and got her things from her mom’s house.

She keeps saying this is a trial thing, but I think that’s just her defense mechanism.

She doesn’t want to end up like her parents and I totally get that.

Her business is booming. She has a dozen contracts with authors right now and she’s also working on pieces for her first gallery showing next month. And in her spare time, she’s decided to illustrate her own children’s book about frogs that live in a pond in a park in a city.

I squeeze her a little, drawing her tighter against me.

“Good morning,” she murmurs as she slides her leg between mine. Her hand goes up to my hair and she runs her fingers through the strands.

“Morning, baby,” I say, adding a kiss to her head.

She sighs contentedly and kisses my chest, and I feel…at peace.

This is how happiness is supposed to feel. I’m still working on being happy and accepting myself, faults and all, but I’m getting there, slowly, very slowly.

“You’re overthinking,” Piper says with a laugh. “Get out of your head.”

I smile and kiss her head again.

“I can be persuaded to get out of my head,” I tease as I push my morning wood against her leg.

“You’re insatiable, Kasen Saddler,” she says and then sits up. “Oh God, I’m a terrible girlfriend.”

“Why?”

“I don’t even know your middle name,” she says aghast as if that’s a crime.

I chuckle. “Kasen Ian Saddler. What’s yours?”

She blushes. “Octavia.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“It’s after an author my mom liked,” she explains and then curls back up against me.

“You know what?” she asks.

“What?” I run my hand over her soft hair, wishing we could lie here all day.

“I’m glad Aunt Cornelia sent me to find her necklace. Because it made me find you,” she says as she gives me a squeeze.

“I’m glad you found me too. And now that you found me, there’s no letting go,” I state.

“Never,” she agrees. And we lie there for another hour, just holding each other. I’m not entirely sure why the universe saw fit to have me find this perfect woman, but I’m awfully glad it did.