Page 19 of The Boy I Loved
“I sent him a few photos, and he sent me one. He ended up facetiming me?—”
She gasped. “You had phone sex?” Her voice came out in abreathy whisper, eyes as wide as saucers like she didn’t think I had that in me.
The waitress chose that moment to greet us. I knew she hadn’t heard anything, but it still made my skin heat. She took our drink orders, a strawberry lemonade for me, and a sweet tea for Tory, followed by our meals. We came here often enough that we didn’t even have to look at the menu to know what we wanted, but we still took our time looking it over. I always got a cheeseburger with a side of fries, while Tory ordered a ham and cheese melt with fries. We normally shared a plate of cheese sticks, too.
“Why are the staff here so slow?” she complained. “They only have four other customers.”
I glanced around, realizing she was right. There was a man at the bar, two people seated across from each other in a booth, and a girl typing away on a laptop while slurping down a coffee or hot tea.
“Maybe they’re understaffed,” I offered with a shrug.
Tory rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. Waitressing is way too much stress and work for minimum wage.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air as she talked, her silver bracelets glistening beneath the light. “I’ve also heard that they treat their employees here like absolute shit.” She continued to ramble on and on about this place and how the workers were ill-treated, right as the waitress returned with our beverages.
My face flamed with embarrassment, and I opened my mouth, attempting to form the words to get my best friend to shut the hell up, but they never came. Instead, I was stuck there frozen with a waitress who was looking between me and Tory with wide eyes—probably due to my friend’s colorful vocabulary.
I shot the lady a sheepish grin, but it probably came off as more of a grimace. “Sorry,” I muttered.
The woman placed my drink down in front of me and then didthe same for Tory, who’s eyesfinallysnapped to the staff worker. Tory’s face pinkened, her accusing gaze flicking over to me.
The woman’s badge saidEllie.She was an older woman with dark brown hair, similar to mine, and dark brown eyes. If I thought she was going to be offended, I was dead wrong. She just shrugged in response.
“She’s not wrong,” Ellie commented. “Your food will be out shortly.” She gave us a tight smile before turning on her heels and crossing the diner, probably wanting to put as much distance between us as possible.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was standing there?” she asked in disbelief.
I snorted a laugh and brought my glass to my lips, taking a long, slow drink. The strawberry flavor danced along my tongue, followed by the sour taste of the lemon flavoring. Whenever I came here with Dominic, I’d order the same things, too. He was the one that got me started on strawberry lemonade in the first place. A lot of places didn’t have it, so I took advantage whenever I came here.
“Whatever,” Tory mumbled when I didn’t bother to reply. “You know what I think?”
I raised my eyebrows in response, setting the cup back on the table.
“Ithinkyou should show Dom exactly what he’s missing. School literally starts in two days. Flaunt around another guy in front of him and see if he gets jealous.” She shot me a pointed look. “You’ve been clinging on to him for over two years, babe. It’s time to move on. If he thinks you’re going to wait for him forever, show him you aren’t.”
My stomach twisted into knots at what she was suggesting. The thought of stringing anyone along didn’t sit right with me, and neither did the thought of moving on. But then I remembered what he said. While I was waiting for him to come home, loving him, and missing him, he was having sex with other girls.
It’s complicated.
No. It wasn’t. He wasn’t waiting for me like I was him. So maybe Tory was right. As much as it hurt, maybe that’s exactly what I needed to do.
When I got home,I immediately started putting everything away. My backpack was ready to go, and my new clothes were organized within the closet by color. Tory talked me into getting some more revealing pieces and even helped me pick out my outfit for the first day of classes. It wasn’t something I’d normally wear, but if her words had any merit to them, and if Dominic still felt something for me, then he wouldn’t want me walking around dressed like that.
If there was one thing I did know about him, it was that he was possessive. Even when we were friends, still exploring our feelings for one another, he’d get a little too…intenseat times, where other guys were concerned.
Our school had a dress code, but the teachers never followed through with it.
After showering, I made my way downstairs. Dad was on the sofa with his arm around my mom’s shoulders. She was watching something on TV while he was scrolling on his phone with his free hand.
It wasn’t until I sank into the sofa on my mom’s other side that they acknowledged me.
“Hey, kiddo,” Dad greeted, glancing over at me. “Did you have fun going out with Tory today?”
“Yeah.” My gaze drifted to the TV screen. I didn’t know whatwas on, but it was some kind of reality TV show. Mom loved those for reasons I couldn’t understand.
Mom smiled at me, her eyes crinkling in the corners. “What all did you get?”
“Some school supplies and clothes.” I shrugged. “We also went out to eat.”
My parents loved Tory. They thought she was a good influence, and for the most part, she was. She was always pushing me out of my comfort zone, and not in a bad way. She encouraged me to do things I wouldn’t normally do, to be better, and to feel more confident. I honestly didn’t know what I’d do without her. She and Alice had become my rocks while Dom was away. Alice might have been two years younger than us, but she was mature for her age and it didn’t feel weird.
