“No. I was, I did, but I wasn’t clear about it. We hung out real casual and I assumed that was enough. I was so used to girls just throwing themselves at me that I guess I didn’t take it all that seriously. The more time that went by, the more I liked her. I was waiting for some sort of sign that she was ready, that I’d put in enough time for her to trust me, all the while she was waiting for me to make a move. Eventually she started dating other people, and I realized I fucked-up, but it was too late, the moment had passed.”

“Brutal.”

“Yeah.” I look ahead where Sydney’s smiling at Ollie, the two of them are carrying on like old friends.

“Five real dates to make up for the ones you didn’t take her on two years ago. That’s pretty romantic, Shaw.”

“Well, she deserves it. Better late than never.”

“For what it’s worth, she knows how much you care about her. I think she even knows how much you regret two years ago.”

“I know she doesn’t need five dates to prove that I want her. She’s told me many times, but I want it to be perfect for her. I want to make up for everything I should have done. Two years…” I rarely let myself go down the what could have been road because it ends with this pit in my stomach full of disgust and remorse. “I could have kept her from dating a whole slew of douchebags, shielded her from the pain each time things didn’t work. I could have made her happy.”

“Regret is a funny thing. It often makes us do things for all the wrong reasons, chase ideals that don’t matter, and all for ourselves. Regret is selfish.”

“What are you saying?”

“She just wants you, man. She doesn’t care about the regrets you have. She has her own and the only thing they have in common is that you want to be together now. Nothing either of you do now is going to change the past.” He claps me on the shoulder before we catch up to Sydney and Ollie.

“Are you ready?” Jonah asks Ollie. He motions with his head to the parking lot. “I thought we could go by The Cove and catch last call.”

“Now? We’re just about to order.”

Jonah laughs. “I think we’ve crashed enough of this date. Come on, I’ll buy you a beer.”

With a sigh, Ollie steps out of line. “Baller date three, Shaw. I would have definitely put out.”

“Thanks, man. It was fun.” I wrap both arms around Sydney’s waist from behind. “See you guys later.”