Page 6 of Austen, Edited

The sincerity in his voice caused her to give him a small smile. “Well, I’ll start my senior year of college next week, and I’m working here. Nothing too crazy.”

She waved him into the room and motioned to a seat next to the one she’d been sitting in. “Sit here. You’ll probably want to be the one controlling the keyboard and mouse anyway.”

He chuckled and sank into the seat, sending a cloud of his woodsy cologne her way. She tried not to breathe it in, knowing it would only send her back to the nights of tears after he’d left.

“You look really good,” he said, turning toward her. “Are you happy?”

She laughed, thinking of the past year. It had taken some doing, but she was finally in a good place, working to find her passion in the world.

“I am, for the most part. I wish I could say life changed a lot with you gone, and in some ways it did. But I’m still pretty much the same girl you’ve known forever.” She thought about telling him about her mother’s parole coming up soon, or the fact that she had no idea what she was going to do after graduation, but those were things best shared with someone she could trust, and at the moment, she wasn’t sure he was one of them.

“Have you heard from your mom?” he asked, his voice soft. He’d been there for her, nudging her out of her comfort zone when she’d gone to live with her aunt and uncle, helping her realize life could be so much better than it had been living with her mother and all the ups and downs there.

The way he looked at her now, his lips relaxed and his eyes soft, made her wish she could go back to before he left. Before Hannah showed up and he’d dated her, ditching Abby as politely as possible on occasion. All so she could tell him he was the person she loved most of all.

She hadn’t known it as deeply back then as she did now. She’d always admired his adventurous spirit and willingness to try out new things. But she’d realized too late that she not only loved him as a best friend, but as someone she could be with forever.

“Just a few letters I haven’t opened.” It was the truth. She’d only opened the first one her mother had sent and then the one with the official seal in the upper corner because she’d been worried she’d gotten a ticket or something, only to find out the parole board was thinking about releasing Gina Price.

“I was thinking about you yesterday when I looked out at your uncle’s property. Do you still live there?” His last words were more hesitant, like he was worried about the answer.

Abby nodded. He’d thought about her? The momentary elation was crushed by the thought that he’d left with Hannah and was probably still with her. “Until this weekend when I move back into the dorms on campus. Tiffany is trying to get me to move in on Sunday.” She bit her lower lip, mentally chastising herself for sharing too much with him.

“Are you still studying English?” He focused on pulling out his laptop while he asked the question, and Abby wondered when things had become so formal. This small talk wasn’t something they’d ever had to worry about. A shot of sadness hit her chest and blossomed. Wasted time was what they’d always called it.

“Yep. It’s a broad area, but I love reading and it can be used in so many ways. It was one of the reasons I got this job.” Abby paused, trying to decide how much to ask him. “How did everything go with your master’s program? You graduated, right?”

He bit the side of his lip and nodded. “Yeah. Did you get the invitation I sent?”

Her stomach twisted, still feeling the guilt of that one. She hadn’t heard from him in months, and then receiving the invitation in the mail had felt cold. After all they’d been through, a simple phone call would have done the trick.

Abby rubbed her upper arm and nodded. “I had to help serve at one of my aunt’s functions.” It was a half-truth as her aunt always had something to celebrate, from charity fundraisers to black-tie galas. Abby was one of her go-to servers, knowing she wouldn’t say no after all the family had given her.

“I get it,” Greyson said, running a hand through his hair. “I had another job for the summer after graduation, but it didn’t quite work out, so I’m back.”

The question she wanted to ask burned the inside of her chest, but she couldn’t ask it—didn’t want to give herself that small hope that things could ever work out between the two of them. She decided to steer the conversation in a safer direction.

“Did your parents go down for your graduation? I haven’t really talked to them since you left.” Mrs. Campbell had never been a fan of Abby when it came to hanging out with Greyson, and she’d been over the moon when he started dating Hannah, the girl who fit into the high-society life much better than the Harringtons’ niece.

“Yeah, they came down for the day and then headed back home. Karly had some dance recital.”

Abby had only seen Greyson’s sister, Karly, in passing, waving to her when pulling out of the driveway or out in the backyard. The younger girl had spent many years tagging along on the many adventures Abby and Greyson shared. But when he left with Hannah, she felt like she’d lost both of her friends, as Karly’s schedule for school and dance increased.

“I really liked New Jersey. I even thought about staying after this summer. Things just didn’t work out.” His eyes were far away, and she wondered if it was because of Hannah or because of his work. He’d always been great with technology, and she could imagine that the skills he’d gained from grad school would only aid him in finding jobs. The fact that he was going to work under his father for the largest delivery service of concessions to all the major ballparks and arenas in the US signaled that something big had happened. If only the chasm between them weren’t so big, she’d ask him.

The words sounded more bitter than his normal upbeat attitude, and Abby reached over, placing her hand over his on top of the desk. A year hadn’t diminished that shock of electricity, and she had to concentrate on not jerking her hand away.

“I’m sorry, Greyson. I don’t know what happened, but I hope your coming back is good for whatever you need.” If only it was her. She needed to stop moping and realize she would always be in the friend zone, unable to move up the ranks when it came to Greyson’s love life.

He turned to look at her, his blue eyes bright, the corners of his mouth tugging up. “Thanks, Abs. Sorry I didn’t text or call. It was just—”

“Complicated,” she said, cutting him off. “Don’t worry; I get it. A girlfriend is a higher priority than a best friend.” The words tasted bitter coming out, and she avoided his gaze, not wanting to see his disappointment or hurt.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his shoulders slump, and he scrubbed his face with his hands. A moment of silence passed, and Abby wondered if Tiffany stood just outside the door eavesdropping on the conversation. Greyson’s voice pulled her back, the richness of it deepening the ache.

“It shouldn’t have been. I should’ve listened to you, and I, well, I’ve missed you. Hopefully we can find a way back to how things were before I left?”

Abby wasn’t sure that was possible, but her head moved up and down anyway. “Yeah, definitely. Let’s get working on this app, shall we?” She pulled her papers toward her, hoping to focus on the screens in front of them. Determined to keep the tears at bay, she focused on the facts and data of the app, trying to keep his voice in a business frame of mind rather than letting it affect her. She’d start college on Tuesday and probably wouldn’t work with him this closely again. She could survive an hour or two with him. Maybe.

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