Page 65 of Never Really Over

She winces. “You know how I feel about this so you have to go easy on me, all things considered. I’m a hard ass but at the same time, I am open-minded.”

“Out with it,” I growl.

“I had coffee with Layla a couple days ago. I may or may not have invited her tonight,” she blurts out so fast that I’m not certain I heard her right. But the way she’s fidgeting tells me I did.

My heart lurches in my chest but I ignore the reaction I have just at hearing Layla’s name. I’ve done a damn good job of compartmentalizing all my thoughts since she came back, keeping all that revolved around her safely locked away.

But one mention of her and that lock was busted.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m a fan of love.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Amy! Love? Are you kidding me with this right now?”

She wrings her hands together, something not Amy-like at all. “I’m sorry!” she says, pleadingly. “I know it was dumb but she didn’t show up anyway so it’s not like it matters. But I wanted to be honest with you.”

“I don’t even know what to say right now. The last time you saw her, you basically told her you wanted nothing to do with her.”

“Missy,” she grumbles. “It’s all her fault.”

“Oh, is it now?” I challenge, crossing my arms across my chest.

She mirrors my position. “That’s the story I’m going with, yes. Well, that, and…”

“And?”

“Grandma?”

“What do you mean, your grandma?”

She pulls an eek face and winces slightly. “Okay. Listen with an open mind, will you? Because I know it sounds crazy, and I’ll admit, she might be a bit crazy, but in a good way. Usually.” She’s rambling and nervous, so unlike Amy that if the situation were different, I’d probably chuckle. “Grandma has special powers,” she murmurs.

That does get me to chuckle. “Okay, I’ll bite. Tell me more.”

“She told me you two were destined to be together and she always knew it. Something in the way you looked at each other. But she said the same about the rest of us, too. And I thought she was full of shit because, duh, that makes no sense. But then she met Bridget at the salon when she was getting her hair done and told me she found a girl for ‘that Dalton kid I went to school with’ and I was like huh? How is that possible? Because she met the woman one time and hasn’t seen Dalton in ages.”

“So she guessed right with you all because she’d seen you grow up together, obviously. And Bridget and Dalton might have been a fluke, or maybe she overheard Bridget say Dalton’s name.”

“I thought so, too. But then she ran into Layla at the diner. She stopped in at the house on her way home and said ‘I just knew those two wouldn’t stay apart. They are meant for each other’. I don’t know. Maybe she’s simply a romantic and saw how you two were together back then, or maybe she’s onto something, but it niggled in my brain enough that I wanted to see it through. Anyway, like I said, she didn’t show up so apparently it wasn’t the right time or something.”

I crack a smile because I’ve met Amy’s grandma a few times and always liked her and can honestly see her saying things like this. However, all I can think is thatshe didn’t show up anyway.Why does that bother me? I don’t want her here, but the fact that she was invited andchosenot to come… something about that irks me.

Dalton comes into the house just then and I can see on his face that the whole she didn’t show up thing changed. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do.

“Amy, I need a minute with the big guy.”

“I’ll just take this outside,” she says, grabbing the larger cake that we’ll share. Poppy has her own little cake that the bakery I bought it from called a smash cake. I’ll bring it out when I’m done with whatever this conversation is about. I have a feeling I’m not going to be surprised.

“What’s up?”

He looks behind him and when he meets my eyes again, I know I was right.

Some things never change, I guess. I always had this sense whenever Layla was around and it’s firing on all cylinders right now. There’s a crackle in the air that’s unforgettable. When we were together, I thought it was sexual tension for a while, but we cured that when we lost our virginity with each other. Then I figured it was just the way we were together. Electric. I once thought we were two forces that couldn’t be separated. I’d been wrong.

“So, um, Layla’s here.”

“I know.”

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