Project Runaway ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Four

Twenty-Four

"Who's this chump?" Protective wasn't the word to use to describe my brother when James Pardi made an appearance at my uncle's house late at night. First of all, James shouldn't have been coming at eleven at night because that was way too late. Besides my brother, who still hadn't gone back to his hotel, I was the only one awake in the house.

"I'm James from the Pardi Brothers."

"Never heard of ya. Well, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, Lilah." Ryan, with no intention of going for enough away from earshot left the room and left me to invite James in.

James, a little dazed and probably taking a shot of whiskey before entering my home, stared bewildered at me.

"What's up? I thought you were leaving for your tour?"

"I am, but we've been delayed a couple of days because one of my brothers got sick so we've been staying with my folks for a while. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"And you had to be drunk to do it?" I asked. I wasn't much upset with him, but accepted that this was the life he wanted. One can only help so much. He was turning into one of those annoying neighbors that don't want to leave when they come to visit.

"I'm here to say a proper goodbye. And, if you're wondering, yes, I needed to be drunk to tell you I had a good time getting to know you. I kept coming around, hoping that you would come around to notice I had a crush on you, but then I finally realized it didn't matter how I felt when you are strung out on some other guy." He was referring to Tanner, that much is obvious.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I don't think we have a connection. You're clearly going through your own problems and I don't think you're ready for me. With your drinking and the ex-girlfriend you frequently text, I think it's best if you work on your issues. You'll find you another girl, but all I can offer is friendship. My heart belongs elsewhere, and I think it always has."

He accepted this without argument, tossing his arms around me as a final goodbye as we stood there in the hallway.

I was saying goodbye to my only other friend besides Tanner, and as awful as that sounded, it was definitely for the best. James wasn't the type of guy I would usually befriend, Tanner was right about that. But, I did happen to grow as my own person, to get out of my comfort zone, so I don't regret our short friendship.

After a few minutes, James was out of the house for good. Or was it for good? With his surprise appearances,  I couldn't be certain.

After he left I decided I'd trail off to bed before I was consumed by questions from my over-protective brother.

When I closed the bedroom door, Tanner was awake with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm guessing you know who was here." I said, tapping my hand against the wall.

"Oh yeah." He simply replied.

"You're not going to ask what he wanted?"

"No, I'm trying to learn to control my jealousy and, I really do trust you around James. I know that you and I - well, whatever is going on between us - is complicated, but I want to clear a few things up. I want to suggest that while we're figuring us out that we don't see other people. I don't want to kiss another girl, and I hope you feel the same way."

"I don't want to kiss another girl either." I laughed.

"Hey, don't joke; I'm serious." He reached for my hand in the darkness and I moved closer, latching on and taking a seat beside him on the bed. Tanner sat up, placing his chin against my shoulder while my back faced him.

"I know it's serious. I've never wanted to see anyone else but you, so suggesting anything differently would be absolutely ridiculous. I think I've always known that you would find your way to me at your own pace, and I don't regret waiting."

"I regret it. I regret being so stupid. It's just that, as a loyal friend to both you and Ryan, I never wanted to cross that line and now I can't even see where that line is anymore."

I squeezed his hand, assuring him that everything would be fine.

"We can take it slow, and let whatever happens, happens. We have forever."

"And I don't want to waste it." He snuggled me against him, and I sighed in relief as if I had needed his touch all day.

I'm glad we are going slow. If we were to have dated earlier at the wrong time when we were young and impressionable, maybe things wouldn't have worked out.

I wanted a healthy relationship, and tonight I would pray for Uncle Rudolph to have the same. I would pray that I gather the strength to tell him the truth about his fiancée and that he could move on from this betrayal.

The next morning was filled with desperate glances exchanged between Tanner and I, and avoiding my brother. All of that changed when I realized my favorite watch given to me by my dad had gone missing. The only time I take it off is when I take a shower and go to bed, and occasionally when I wash the dishes. All of us, with the exception of a lazy Peach, scoured around on the floor in search of my missing Rolex.

"It's Dad's favorite watch. I can't lose it." Tanner assured me we would find it, and somehow I knew eventually we would. It wasn't the first time it went missing. After having to change a tire and losing the watch in the car, and then losing it in the house, I was going to have to put GPS tracking on it.

We didn't find it, but I had a strong feeling it would turn up. How far can one watch run?