Page 51 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions

“You…stopped us on the side of the road…to give mepickles?”

Alex looked panicked.

It was the most unsure I’d seen him yet.

“They’re…um.” He scratched the back of his neck, big shoulders flexing in a way that was far too distracting than it had any right to be. “They’re apology pickles.”

“Apology…pickles…” I echoed, staring down at the jar. It was the brand I favored. My favorite. The same kind I’d lost my appetite for the night before. “I’m confused.”

“Because I was a dick yesterday,” Alex tried to explain. “Words didn’t feel like enough. I wanted toshowyou that I’m not an asshole.” The more he spoke, the faster his words came out. “I wracked my brain all night trying to figure out the best way to do that.”

He’d worried about this all night?

“After talking to your mom I figured this was the best way to prove my sincerity.”

“With…pickles?” I confirmed. The glass was cool to the touch, slightly warmer where the wrapper lay. I rubbed the edge with my thumb, so confused by this new turn of events, it took me a second to realize my anxiety had fled.

Laughter bubbled up.

The horrible kind.

The kind that made me feel like I was choking. It spilled free, these awful wheezes escaping as I clutched my apology pickles close.

Alex was startled at first, his eyes wide, like he didn’t know what to do. Then his unease melted away, broad shoulders relaxing. He cracked a smile. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he looked proud of himself.

When I finally stopped choking on air, I wiped tears away from the corners of my eyes and shook my head. “This has got to be the stupidest, sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I told him. “Apology pickles. Wow. Just…wow.”

Alex grinned, wide and unrepentant. The sun glazed him in gold, highlighting the bump on the bridge of his nose, and the curve of his jaw. “I’m glad you liked it.”

I shrugged. “Hard not to like pickles.”

Alex laughed, this elated, sharp burst of breath. Then he sobered. He wasnowhere near as rigid as he’d been previously, however. Just stiff enough I knew to expect another wild card. Proving me right, Alex dropped to his knees on the gravel in my open doorway. The car continued to run, and I held tighter to my pickle bottle.

“I was an asshole,” Alex said softly, holding his hands palms up. It was a sign of surrender. The same gesture he’d made the day before when I’d rejected him.

“Mmm,” I agreed, because he had been. “I was too.”

“I was worse,” Alex replied. “I…” He sucked in a breath, and then, because he was full of surprises today, he was honest. “You’re the fourth person June has tried to set me up with for her damn wedding. I’m not looking for a relationship. Not fucking interested. I was…frustrated that she was pushing this on me, prepared to treat you the same way I’ve treated all the people she’s tried to make me date.” He paused, refusing to look at me. “But then Imetyou.”

I arched a brow.

“You didn’t like me.” Alex’s voice caught. “I…fuck. This is hard. I don’t normally talk openly like this.”

“Why do it now?”

“I want to make things right.”

Another pause.

“I’m used to everyone liking me.” Alex grimaced. “I know how that sounds. But it’s true. I’ve been…a mess since yesterday. Not sure how to talk to you, or…what I even wanted. To push you away? Get June to stop setting me up? Or to feed into this…because you weren’t at all what I expected. This is the first time I’ve been even remotely interested in one of her matches and that was fucking with my head a bit, all things considered.” He took in another breath. “I shouldn’t have ignored you at the party. I shouldn’t have pushed you when you were clearly uncomfortable.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“I should’ve left you alone when you told me you wanted me to,” Alexadded, staring at the pickles in my grip. “But…I figured you deserved answers. I didn’t want things to be weird between us. Didn’t want to ruin more of your trip,” Alex murmured, turning his pale blue eyes on me. Puppy eyes. Again.

“Okay?” My voice was oddly soft.

It was hard to process everything he’d just said but I tried. Maybe he wasn’t manipulative like I’d thought. Maybe Alex was simply off-kilter? I could understand that. I didn’t know what to make of him either. Maybe I’d misjudged him.

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