I pull into the strip mall where Angie’s vet practice is located. I know there will be obstacles. Land mines. Best friends. They’re here somewhere, I can feel it.
I park far away and scan the parking lot, but I don’t see Angie’s or Fi’s car. Is it possible that if I finally caught a break?
Out of time either way, I head to Angie’s front door as quickly as my legs will carry me. As expected, two women materialize out of nowhere to block my path. How do they do that?
“Back, foul beast,” Fi says, making the sign of the cross with her fingers.”
Kaylee nods and scowls at me. “Yeah, Jake. Get fucking lost. Angie’s been through enough because of you. We’re not going to let you hurt her again. We should have never let our guard down in the first place.”
I hold my hands up. “Hey, I’m just here to talk.”
Fi pulls out a can of mace and aims it at my face. “Wrong answer, mister.”
Kaylee takes a step back from Fi. “Yeah, you take your stupid scam somewhere else, Jake, I’m sure you can find another girl to prove you’ve turned your image around. Leave ours alone.”
Fi’s a loose cannon. If even Kaylee steps away, feeling like she’s going to pull the trigger, then she’s probably going to pull the trigger.
I take two steps back. “Whoa, Fi. Hang on.”
“Get lost.”
“Nice comeback,” I say. Then I check my watch. Holy shit, it’s three-thirty. And it takes at least twenty-five minutes to get to the airport. My window is closing fast. I could very well miss out on my last chance with the NFL and lose Angie forever too at this point.
“What’s the matter?” Kaylee asks, “you got another date?”
“No,” I say, getting desperate. “I just want to talk to Angie. I have to talk to Angie. You don’t understand.”
“She’s off limits to you,” Kaylee answers.
Fi’s expression softens. “What do you mean you have to talk to her.”
“What are you doing, Fi?” Kaylee asks.
“Look at his face,” Fi answers.
“Stop talking like I’m not here,” I add, feeling left out. But I have to wonder what she means when she says look at my face.
“Remember that night in high school when he came over to my house, freaked out because Angie got arrested?”
Kaylee and I look at Fi like she’s insane.
“He’s got the same look on his face as he did then,” she says to Kaylee before she turns her gaze back to me. “Jake, I’ve known you most of my life. I’ve only seen that look on your face once. You were scared, and in that moment, you would have done anything to help Angie. You said you were going to go in to take the rap, remember?”
“Yeah,” I say, not sure where she’s going with this.
“You’d have lost your scholarship for sure. And who stopped you? Hmmmm?”
“You did, Fi” I answer. “Hey, Angie got away with it, I would have too.”
“You’d have cracked, Jake.” Fi says.
“Oh yeah,” Kaylee says, “you wouldn’t have lasted five minutes.”
Five minutes. Shit. That just reminds me that I’m out of time. “Shit, girls. You’re right, you know me. And I’ve been an asshole, for sure. And I’m sorry. Really, I am. But listen. I love her. Honest. In twenty-five minutes my flight leaves for the airport. If I’m not on it, my career’s over.”
Fi keeps the mace trained on me.
Kaylee checks her watch. “Jake, why are you here, then? You’re not going to make it.”
“I won’t leave without saying goodbye. Without telling her I love her. If I miss the flight, I miss the flight. I can live without the league; I can’t live without Angie.”
Fi sniffs and puts the mace back in her purse. “Damn it, Jake, you’re going to make me cry. He’s serious, Kaylee, let him in.”
Kaylee looks surprised by the turn of events, but she opens the door for me. I run through it, my stomach tightening into knots. I’m through the door, but now I’m at the boss level. Angie.
As soon as I’m in, I see a crowd of people in the waiting room. I scan the faces and end up finding Mia at check-in, as usual, and Angie is standing over her, helping her with something on the screen.
Both of them look up at me at the same time. Angie searches my face. In hers, I see anger and confusion. Angie’s gaze pivots from me to Kaylee and Fi and then back again.
She’s smart, she figures it out quickly. “You two let him in?”
I cross the room to her and she leaves the check-in area to stand across from me, arms crossed, face a ball of adorable rage.
Every eye in the room is on the two of us. You could seriously hear a pin drop in here. A puppy whines and it fills the silence momentarily.
I clear my throat and suddenly I have a hard time swallowing, especially now that I see the pain that I caused her written across Angie’s face.
“I’m sorry, Angie. About everything. About hurting you. I didn’t mean to use you to further my career. That’s not what this was about at all, it just took me longer than usual to figure it out.”
“Because you’re not as smart as me.” She says.
I feel a flicker of hope rise up inside me. “Exactly, because I’m not as smart as you. And it’s true. But I do know this. I love you, Angie.”
I hear gasps in the waiting room. I can’t see behind me, but I swear one of the gasps came from Kaylee.
“I’ve loved you since the second grade. You’re more important to me than football, or money, or publicity, or anything. I can’t live without you. I know that now.”
I drop to one knee. “Angie, will you be my girlfriend?”
Angie makes a thin line with her lip, like she’s trying not to cry. I’m holding my breath. I may suck at all the
