“Which is where?” I yelled.
“Just up the road here.”
“In the middle of nowhere?”
Jess let off the gas and the car started to slow. “Goddammit, Abby, listen to me. I don’t know the entire story here. But you’ve shared more with me than anyone else in the world. The one thing I’ve always noticed is that when you talk about Reed, you get really happy. Your face lights up. Now maybe that’s because of what you were doing. Traveling with the band. Singing. Acting like a rock star. Whatever. But then I wondered if it was him. When you got the chance to go into the studio with the band, you were flustered. But that smile…”
“He hurt me,” I said. “He’s a piece of shit. This is the kind of friend you are? You should be driving me away from him.”
“Okay, fine. I’m the worst friend ever. But you’re going to get your ending, Abby. The way you want it. He’s on the side of the fucking road, waiting for you. I’m going to pull over a little bit up the road and wait. Do what you need to do to end this for good. So you’re not lingering on it for years. You deserve so much more than what you do with us. Believe me. And there have been chances. You’ve passed them up. And it has nothing to do with hurting Sasha’s precious feelings either. It’s because whatever really happened with Reed is still in your heart and fucking with your head.”
As Jess spoke that last line, I saw Reed up ahead.
His motorcycle on the side of the road.
Him leaning against it.
My heart started to race.
Half of my body felt giddy. The other half felt anger.
I looked at Jess and I wanted to punch her.
“He called you?” I asked.
“Yeah. He said he needed to talk to you. He needed my help.”
“And you did this?”
“I consider myself your friend, Abby. I don’t want you hurting. I don’t want you to not have closure. Not with this asshole. Right?”
She smirked.
“Yeah, right,” I said.
I swallowed hard.
Jess brought the car to a stop.
I opened the door and climbed out.
She drove off up the road and did what she said she was going to do.
Which was pull over and wait for me.
I stood in the middle of the road and folded my arms.
Reed looked deadly sexy.
He was the epitome of hungover rock star but it looked so good on him.
“How many whores did you fuck last night?” I asked.
“Was going to be two at the same time,” he said.
“Fuck you, Reed,” I said.
“You asked.”
“What happened?”
Reed took his sunglasses off. “You did, honey. You happened.”
“Oh, here we go,” I said.
“No,” Reed said. “This isn’t about talking, Abby.”
Ahh-bee…
“Then, what is it?” I asked, swallowing hard again.
Reed reached into his pocket and took out a set of keys.
He tossed them to me.
I caught them.
“For the motorcycle,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
“Get on the motorcycle, honey. Ride off into the horizon. Leave my ass stranded here.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No,” Reed said. “It’s my turn.”
“So, what, you can just call for a ride then?” I asked.
“No phone,” he said. “Want to come pat me down to check?”
“No,” I said.
“So, there you go. You leave me here. I’ll wander my way home. Maybe I’ll get lucky and some bored, lonely housewife will be cruising by in her minivan. She’ll stop and I’ll ask for a ride. Then about a mile up the road, I’ll start suckling on her full mom tits and-”
“Shut up,” I said. “You’re so full of it.”
“Do what you have to do, honey,” Reed said.
He slowly sat down on the side of the road.
I walked to the motorcycle and stared at it.
He brought the motorcycle on purpose. He knew I had no idea what I was doing here.
I climbed onto the motorcycle and couldn’t even touch the ground with both feet. I had no idea how to pick up and balance it. I had no idea how to start it. I had no idea how to ride it.
So I sort of stood and sat there, staring down the road.
My eyes filled with tears.
I climbed off the motorcycle and gripped the keys tight in my hand.
“Can’t ride it, honey?” Reed asked.
I looked down at him.
I turned and threw the keys as hard and as far as I could.
They sailed through the air and landed somewhere.
“Good luck finding those now,” I said. “Asshole.”
I started to walk away.
I smiled.
Maybe Reed would find the keys, but it wouldn’t be easy.
Either way, I was the one leaving him on the side of the road right now.
I was the one winning this time.
I was the one-
“Hey, honey?” Reed called out.
I shook my head.
“Before you leave for good, there’s one thing I always wanted to tell you,” he called out.
I paused.
I looked back. “And what’s that, Reed?”
Reed was standing again.
Staring right at me.
He smiled.
“I love you, Abby.”
I stood in place.
In silence.
Reed didn’t say anything else.
But he moved closer to me.
Step by step. Second by second.
And I wasn’t moving away.
“If I told you that this entire thing came down to me loving you… you’d probably get really pissed at me.”
“Yeah, I would,” I said.
Reed kept walking closer.
“And if I told you all I wanted right now was for you to be with me… and let me love you and only you… you’d probably think I was crazy.”
“I definitely would,” I said.
Reed was just a few feet away.
He stopped walking.
“So that’s it?” I asked. “You say that and just stop?”
“If I take one more step, honey, I’m going to kiss you,” Reed said. “And if I kiss you, I’m going to tell you I love you again. If I do that, then I’m going to put you on the back of my ride and that’s it. You’re all mine.”
I slowly turned. “That’s awfully confident, Reed. You can kiss me and tell me you love me. But I’m going to walk away. With your heart. Because… fuck you. How’s that sound?”
“You don’t mean that.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I can see it in your eyes, honey.”
“You left me on the side of the road, Reed.”
“I fucked up. I’m sorry I did that.”
“Yeah… and I’m sorry I misled you. I’m sorry I kept taking those calls. I was chasing my own dream too. I didn’t mean to fall for you. And I knew we couldn’t do anything about it back then. It wasn’t the right time.”
“But now is the right time, Abby.”
“You just want me to sing backup on your songs,” I said. “You’re worried that RAUNCHY RECKS is going to scoop me up.”