Page 65 of As a Last Resort
“You’re lying.”She squinted her eyes at me.“What’s your favorite of all time?”
I leaned in closer.“I think it’s my turn.”
She laughed again and threw her head back.It was the kind of laugh you felt curl deep in your stomach and snuggle down.She was stunning.And I was feeling very warm.There were fifty people in the bar but all I saw was her.Starting something with my sister’s childhood friend who was leaving in less than two weeks was a very bad idea.I did not have time for it.My life was simple and drama free.
Sam was not.
“Why do you hate coming home so much?”I asked.
Her smile fell a fraction.She plastered a fake one over it but I could see the light dim a bit in her eyes and it knocked the air from my chest.
“You know about my mom, obviously.”It wasn’t a question.
I nodded my head.
“When she calls I never know what I’m going to have to dealwith.And there’s so much time to fill with worrying about her when I’m here.In the city I have my job.I work all the time.I can remove myself from her issues more than if I’m physically here.Her emergencies don’t seem as catastrophic when I’m three thousand miles away.”
“I get that.”
“And there are the mean girls from high school that I randomly run into at the gas station.That’s always fun.”
“I remember a few of those.”
“Lexi and I used to make it a game.We’d find other ways to get to class just to avoid them.God, it was awful.”She sipped the rest of her vodka tonic and signaled another round to Becky.
“They were just jealous of your boobs.”
Bingo.A fountain of liquid sprayed from her mouth across the bar.I got an alarming amount of satisfaction from wiping the sad eyes off her face.
“What?”I laughed, wiping the residual off my face.“They were probably jealous of everything about you.It’s not really fair to be this beautifulandsmart simultaneously.”
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you just said that!”
It felt good to make her laugh.I wanted to do it again.
A wave of red crept up her neck.“Moving on, last question.”
I looked over her shoulder as the front door swung open behind her.
I froze.
“Why does your face look like that?”she asked, but her voice sounded far away.Everything sounded muffled and moved in slow motion.
“And that’s not my question by the way!”I barely registered her talking as Tom McCormick walked through the wooden door.
Former state championship senior quarterback.
Former town golden boy.
Former best friend.
Current husband toher.Vanessa, my ex-fiancée, who happened to walk in right on his heels.
Lucky for me, when the crap hit the fan years ago and all hell broke loose, they moved away almost immediately.Tom got a job in Boston.Vanessa’s family moved shortly after to follow, so it’s only the rare occasion he decides to come home to visit his side that I have the potential of running into him.
But he’s never brought her home with him.
“Did you hear me?”Sam asked again.
