“Kate,” Ash scolds.
Kate sets the untouched ice cream and spoon on the coffee table and pushes to her feet. “I’m going to study for a test in Professor Buchanan’s class. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Kate,” Ash tries again, but Kate ignores her and slips down the hall, closing her bedroom door with a quiet click behind her.
We sit in silence, none of us knowing what to do, or what to say, or how to act after everything Kate just unloaded. Because she’s right. It isn’t fair. She’s amazing. The fact Wes couldn’t see past her disease and left her high and dry? It’s bullshit. Of course, the girl has trust issues. She deserves to have those trust issues. But what she doesn’t deserve is to be punished over something she has zero control over. Actually, scratch that. What little control she does have, she’s utilizing to the best of her ability. She stays away from alcohol. She stays away from drugs. She goes to sleep at a decent hour and even wakes up early to make sure she doesn’t throw off her sleep schedule. The girl takes her medication at the same time every day and even puts up with her overbearing parents. She’s mature. Thoughtful. A go-getter. And the shit Wes pulled? It’s ridiculous.
But is it his fault? At least he didn’t string her along once he realized he couldn’t handle her disease. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?
Ash picks up Kate’s ice cream, puts it back in the freezer, and sits down on the cushion beside me, twisting her hands in her lap as she stares at the hallway leading to Kate’s room. Like she’s itching to comfort her.
We all are.
“Well, that sucks,” Mia mutters, putting her feet on the coffee table and settling back into the couch.
“Yeah,” I breathe out.
It really does.
“She needs someone older,” Ash decides. “Someone who doesn’t run at the slightest inconvenience, ya know? Someone who isn’t afraid to take on the hard shit because he knows Kate’s worth it in the end.”
“Right?” Mia adds. “All these college boys are pansies.”
“Except Colt,” Ash gushes shamelessly.
I roll my eyes. “You two make me sick. You know that, right?”
“But the good kind of sick.” Ash winks. “Speaking of which, how are…things?”
With a scoff, I mutter, “Subtle, Ash.”
“I’m just saying…” Her voice trails off, and she lifts her hands in defense.
Mia and Ash exchange glances and Mia announces, “I’ll get the alcohol. You ask the questions.”
“Mia,” I whine.
“Hush.” Ash pats my knee. “Now, where were we? Oh. Right. Colt may have mentioned how miserable––”
“Stop,” I beg. “Seriously, I can’t hear about him.”
“He misses you,” Mia interrupts from the kitchen. “Even stopped by SeaBird so he could ask me how you’re doing.”
“He did?”
“Uh, yeah,” Ash answers. “And it was super adorable and pathetic all at once.”
I nibble my lower lip. Finally giving in to my curiosity, I ask, “And what’d you guys say?”
“I lied and said you’re doing awesome,” Mia replies, setting down a trio of wine glasses onto the kitchen counter and searching for the wine opener in the drawer. “Although, I have a feeling Colt might’ve spilled the beans about your misery ‘cause he didn’t look too convinced. But Ash is right. He looked miserable when we saw him.”
“Good,” I decide. “He deserves to be.”
“Just tell me this,” Ash starts. “Is there a world where you’d forgive him? Where you’d give him another chance?”
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself since I closed the door in his face. But it’s hard. Complicated. And even if I did overreact, the idea of starting a relationship that already has baggage and tacking on long-distance? It sounds miserable.
But I’m already miserable, so…
I sigh and puff out my cheeks, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know.”
“It isn’t a no,” Mia quips, pouring dark red wine into three goblets on the kitchen island.
“It isn’t a yes, either,” I mutter.
“I think you should,” Ash decides. “I saw the spark between you two. And even though you’ve been keeping yourself busy with school and the charity, we’ve still noticed how down you’ve been.”
“We’ve also noticed how few parties have been happening at the Taylor House since Theo had his heart broken,” Mia chimes in.
“He was an asshole,” I tell them, but I’m not sure who I’m reminding anymore.
Especially when I found a career path I love so much more than anything I’d been doing before the charity fell into my lap. It’s crazy. How quickly my world was turned upside down, and I can’t help but feel like it was for the better, despite my fear when letting it go…in every way except for one.
“All men have their moments,” Ash says, bringing me back to the present. “It’s whether or not they can make up for their assholery and make the changes to not let it happen again that makes them worth it.”
Balancing three filled-to-the-brim glasses in her hands, Mia walks over to us and gives a goblet to me and Ash, then lifts her own into the air. “To assholes.”
Ash and I join her, clicking our glasses together. “To assholes.”
Then, I drink the whole thing down.
39
BLAKELY
There’s a track next to the gym at school. I have weights at home, and usually, I’m a sucker for running around campus instead of the monotonous loop a track provides, but sometimes, I crave it. The monotony. The way I can push myself, timing each lap until my muscles are spent and my lungs are aching.
And today, it’s exactly what I need. A distraction. Something I can focus on. Something I can lose myself in. And since we haven’t covered running or any other track and field games, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get in a quick run before introducing the kids to the track field. They should be here any minute.
I’ve been here for almost an hour and take another cool down lap, letting my Nike’s pound against the asphalt in rhythm to my steady heartbeat until I round the last corner and pause. It isn’t for long, barely a millisecond, but it’s enough to throw me off. To bring me back to reality. To erase the distraction running usually gives me.
I keep my gaze glued in front of me, ignoring a stupidly attractive Theo who’s stretching his quads next to the track. His red and black joggers match his LAU T-shirt as he watches me from the edge of the grass. Since his navy blue eyes are partially hidden beneath the brim of his baseball hat, it only showcases his strong jaw even more.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he finally managed to track me down. He’s been texting at least every hour and even cornered me at The Bean Scene yesterday, offering to walk me to my car. I looped my arm through Colt’s and said he’d take care of it. Thankfully, my brother was a gem and didn’t bat an eye.
Today, however, is a different story. The one and only cherry-popper is here in the flesh. And he’s looking at me. Despite my best effort at pretending he doesn’t exist, I can still feel it. His gaze. His hesitancy. His remorse.