AJ sighed, tossing the magazine he was reading aside.
Damn it if he didn’t miss Amanda telling him to shut up every other minute.
She’d gone to spend the day with Sandra, and Nick had just left him alone a few minutes ago, and now AJ was longing for some good, old fashioned bickering.
He grinned, thinking he’d never had as much fun arguing with someone as he did with her. The way her eyes shot daggers in him, wishing him six feet under as she yelled and argued her point of view was the most amusing thing he’d ever been witness to. The way she gasped, eyes wide, when he’d dared talk back to her made him want to drop to the floor and just laugh. The way she brushed her air out of her frustrated face, never missing a beat in her argument, was completely and utterly endearing to him.
If he didn’t know better, he’d say he had fallen in love with her.
Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Nick, he recalled how confused his friend was, wanting to know why he didn’t just get the divorce Amanda had bee so fervently asking for.
“Why are you so hell bent on this, J? On staying married to her?”
Taking a deep breath and looking Nick directly in the eyes, he’d answered his question with one of his own.
“Why were YOU so determined with San? She didn’t want you at all in the beginning, if you’ll remember. So why did you bother?”
Realization had hit Nick quickly, and he smiled in spite of himself. He remembered when AJ had introduced him to Sandra. He’d fallen hook, line, and sinker. She’d have preferred to be on the other side of the room from him, but he saw the sparks between them, even if they did argue. He didn’t care; he’d seen something there, and he was going to fight for it, and fight he did. It took him nearly a year, but in the end, waking up with her every morning was worth everything he’d gone through.
“I feel ya, J,” Nick nodded. “And just like you stuck by me back then, I’m with you now.”
‘Yep,’ AJ sighed contentedly, fueled by Nick’s sudden support. ‘I know exactly what to do. It’s on now.’ It was only a matter of time now. A small, small matter of time.