9. Chapter 7

It"s Sunday morning, and I"ve left my princess exhausted after our morning lovemaking. I love how she reacts to my touch. I"ve missed her so much, and I"m glad I got a second chance with her. She"s an amazing woman, and we belong together. She"s mine. I walk over to Mike"s apartment building and press the call button.

"Who is it?" He answers in a cranky tone.

"It"s me. We need to talk."

He buzzes me in and I take the elevator to his floor. I"m about to knock on the door when it opens abruptly with Mike on the other side.

"That looks painful." He says.

"It is. Can I come in?"

He moves to the side so I can enter the apartment. I walk into the living room and stop for a second. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say, but now that I"m here I"m hesitating.

"You need to stay away from my sister."

I turn to him. "I"m in love with her."

"You"re going to hurt her and then leave. I can"t have that."

"I"ve stayed away from her for years and it almost killed me. I can"t live like that anymore, Mike. I"m not the man you used to know."

"Is that why you left New York?"

"Yes, I thought it would be best to leave, but I broke her heart, and I"ve never forgiven myself for it. Julie is special to me, Mike."

"How long has this been going on this time?"

"We saw each other on her trip to Las Vegas with her friends. Or should I confess, I followed her to Vegas to keep an eye on her."

"Yeah, that sounded like it was going to be a wild trip. I was against it, of course."

"Give me a chance, Mike. Let me court her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated."

"She"s all I have, Keith. After our parents died, I had to take care of her, and that doesn"t change just because she"s grown up. I still feel responsible for her well-being."

"You no longer need to be her father. You can be her brother once again and that gives you bonus points. She"ll be able to confide in you more and your relationship will morph into something different. Maybe something even better than before."

"I don"t know," he says, "I"ll have to think about it."

"That"s all I ask." I offer him my hand and he shakes it, maybe a little rougher than normal, but I understand.

I wake up with the sun burning my eyes. What time is it? I check my phone, which is on the bedside table and it"s almost noon. Keith is definitely wearing me out. I get up to start fixing lunch and see a note on the dining room table. Oh my God! Keith has gone to talk to Mike.

I hurry back, grab my phone, and message my besties in our group chat.

Me: 911 Emergency Meeting!

Hailey: What"s going on?

Amber: I can"t. I"m still in Vegas

Meghan: Is everything alright? I can be there in half an hour

Alice: Will there be food? I"m starving

Gemma: I"m on my way, hang tight

Me: Just come to my apartment ASAP! I"ll order some food for us. Amber, we can do a videoconference with you.

Knowing my besties will be here soon floods me with relief. They"ve got my back and can help me figure things out. I just got Keith back, and I don"t want anything to interfere with that. I order some Thai food – my favorite – and get myself ready to brainstorm with my girls. Pretty soon, they start arriving one by one. I bring my laptop to the living room so we can include Amber, and then I busy myself arranging the food buffet style so everyone can pick what they want.

When everyone is sitting around my living room, I stand before them, wringing my hands in front of me. Their faces have questioning and eager looks because they know I"m not one to panic easily.

"So, Vegas, right?"

"Just spill it, Julie" Amber"s voice comes out of the laptop.

"Remember that one night stand that I"ve never gotten over even though nine years have passed?"

Everyone is nodding. They"ve known about this for years because I had trouble letting go of Keith to start dating. Who am I kidding? Keith is it for me, and all this time, though hurtful, was worth the wait.

"Well, I saw him in Vegas, and we hooked up."

"Great, another nine years of misery. He"s worse than a mirror." Amber says.

"Keep going, Julie. Let us know how we can help." Gemma, always kind, says.

"It"s my brother"s best friend, Keith. And Mike walked in on us yesterday and broke his nose. I want us to do an intervention for Mike so he understands I want a life with Keith. I"m just too chicken to talk to him myself. Keith left me a note saying he was going to see Mike this morning, and he hasn"t come back.

"Well, first, I think it"s great you two have been reunited, Julie. Now you can finally move forward with your life." Hailey says.

Everyone nods in agreement, and I relax slightly. I plop down on a chair, and now I am the one with an eager and hopeful look on my face.

"Now that you"ve told us the problem, I can get some food to prepare myself for the brainstorming session," Alice says while getting up to go to the table where the food awaits them.

Meghan surprises me with a comment. "Are you sure you want to go to war over this man, Julie? He hurt you badly the first time." She hesitates. "I just don"t want to see you get hurt again. You don"t shake these things off like a normal person would."

"I understand your concern, Meghan. But Keith and I have discussed where we are and where we are going. It"s all good."

Meghan gets up, comes towards me, gives me a hug, and then moves to the table. Everyone seems to be hungry. I"ve been so worried about Keith that I"ve forgotten it"s lunchtime.

"I"m just pissed I can"t be there to kick Mike"s ass. He"s always bossing you around, Julie. You need to shake him off." Amber adds from the laptop.

I patiently wait until everyone is back in their seats, eating their food, when I get a message from Keith.

Keith: I"m on my way back to the apartment. Things went well, I think, but he"s still resisting

I tell my besties about the message.

"Well, then, our job is halfway done. Now we just need to gang up on Mike and make him let you go." Hailey says.

"He is the only family I have."

"He"s not the only family you have, Julie. But he"s had to be your dad for many years. He doesn"t have to have that role anymore." Gemma adds.

"Are we going to tell Keith about the intervention? He"ll be here soon."

"No way! He"ll try to stop you guys. Keep it a secret." Amber shouts.

When the buzzer sounds, I get up to let Keith in. I"m a little anxious as my two worlds are about to collide right now, but I trust that my besties won"t grill him too hard. It"s too much to hope for no questions, but a girl can dream. There"s a knock on the door, and I open it to find my prince charming standing there. The brace covering his nose hides how handsome he is, but my heart starts to beat faster at the sight of him just the same.

He kisses me briefly, and I let him inside the apartment.

"Keith, I know you"ve heard of my besties for many years. We"re missing one today that is on the laptop, but here they are. Hailey, Alice, Gemma, Meghan, and Amber, on the computer."

"Hello, ladies. It"s good to finally meet you all."

"Hey Keith, what are your intentions with our girl?" Comes out of the laptop.

The girls all smile because Amber always likes to go straight to the jugular.

"Right. I intend to make her mine and build a future together with her. I"m hoping you guys will come along for the ride with us. You"re all very important to my princess."

I can hear Amber snickering at his nickname for me.

"Geez, Jules, do you call him Daddy too?"

"Not yet," Keith answers, and they all burst out laughing.

"Keith, honey. There"s some Thai food on the table. Feel free to eat any of it. We"re going on a little errand together. I hope you don"t mind."

"I was hoping to spend the rest of Sunday with you."

"I think we"ll be back in an hour or two tops. This is important."

"An important errand. That doesn"t sound worrisome at all. Be good, Princess." He leans down to give me another kiss and I relax because he really is my prince.

"Let"s go, ladies."

The shock on Mike"s face when he opens the door to his apartment is comical. We push him aside to come in and gather in his living area. He"s still standing at the door like he"s dumbfounded we"ve invaded his personal space.

"Mike, close the door and come here. We need to talk to you." I tell him.

"What"s going on, Julie? Ladies."

"We need to talk to you about some things," Hailey says.

"And you needed to do it as a pack?"

"That way, you"ll pay more attention," Alice says.

"Sit down, ladies."

My friends sit, but I stay standing. I need to gather up my courage because I really respect my brother for raising me after our parents died, and I don"t want to cause a rift in our relationship.

"Mike," I start, "Keith is the love of my life. I"ve known it ever since we had a one-night stand many years ago. Back then, we stayed apart out of respect for you, but he"s been in my heart ever since. My life is not complete without him, and I need you to see reason about this."

"This again." Mike sighs. "He was already here to talk about this. I don"t want to talk about it anymore. I told him I"d consider it."

"Are you? Considering it, I mean."

He gives me a sheepish look. "I was hoping to put it out of my mind, actually. It is my day off."

"This is important, Mike," I plead.

"Have you ladies met him?"

"We did, and he gave us a lot of reassurances. Time will tell, but he seemed sincere in how much he cares about Julie." Meghan says. I"m surprised because she"s the more introverted of us and hardly ever gives her opinion so openly.

"Well, coming from you, Meghan, that"s something."

"What"s your biggest concern?" Hailey asks.

"Julie is a sensitive soul. I don"t want him to hurt her."

"But isn"t that her choice to make?" Gemma asks.

"Yes, it is." He turns to me and opens his arms. "I love you, Jules. Don"t hate me for wanting to protect you."

I walk into his arms. "I don"t hate you, but you need to let me loose to make my own choices and mistakes."

"Will you do this, even if it might be a mistake?"

"Yes. It"s what I want. Will you support me?"

"Do I have a choice?" He grins.

"No!" Everyone screams simultaneously, and they come to huddle around us like a team, which we are. My besties are awesome.