Page 11 of Take Me
“I’m kinda dodging her calls,” he admits.“I’m not ready for that.Still feels too shitty, you know?”
“Yeah.”I’ve fielded a few calls from Neil, wanting to sit down and chat.Thanks, but no thanks.“Did Annabelle give you a reason?”
“Just said there wasn’t enough spark.”He grunts and stares down at his drink.“Not to toot my own horn, but there were sparks.Sometimes two or three sets of sparks, or even a full-on bonfire when we’d?—”
“Too much detail.”I shove back the thought of my best pal’s sex life, though it doesn’t surprise me.Mason’s always been good at everything.“Want to know why Neil dumped me?”
“Because he’s a dickhead.”He declares it as a fact.“You said it had to do with getting engaged?”
“That was the gist.”I never gave Mason the full story.It felt too raw at the time, too shameful.“We’d been talking for years about tying the knot.He planned to get out of the Navy and take a job with Dorrington Construction so he wouldn’t be deployed all the time.”
“That’s what he wanted, right?”
“He said he did.”But maybe I didn’t read between the lines.“A few weeks before we split, he asked me what kind of ring I wanted.I said I’d like something plain.I work with my hands, you know?”
“Obviously.”
“But Neil didn’t like that answer.He kept talking about princess cut diamonds versus Asscher or oval, whatever the fuck that means.He’d done research on tension settings for diamonds instead of prong or pavé—said that would be better for me.”Like I had any clue what those were.“It turned into this big fight.I ended up raising my voice and saying, ‘I just want a simple goddamn rose gold band like my mother wore.’”
“That’s fair.”
I thought so.“Neil didn’t like that.”At the time, I didn’t get how upset he was.“He really wanted me to have a fancy ring.So here I am, blathering to him about venues and dates, while he’s secretly stewing for weeks about what I should wear on my finger.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”Something pinches in my gut, but I keep going with the story.“Things kinda blew up at Zoe’s reception.We were out on the dance floor, and I worked up the courage to say what I wanted.Laid it all out there and said, ‘I don’t care about rings or venues or anything else but you.I love you, and we should just get married.Have a sweet, simple ceremony and start our lives together before the end of the year.’I guess Neil took it as an ultimatum.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”Mason already knows the rest of the story.“He broke up with me instead.”
“That sucks.”
“Yep.”I like that he’s not giving me sympathy eyes or some bullshit pat on the arm.
Mason swirls a finger through some spilled kombucha on the bar.“I think Annabelle has a boyfriend already.”
“No kidding?”
He shrugs.“She said she’s been seeing someone she’s really into.”
That sounds like a bitchy thing to tell a guy who’s clearly still in love with her.“That was fast.”
“It’s not like she cheated.We were never exclusive.”
“Still.”I hate seeing my friend in pain.“Whoever he is, I hate him already.”
Mason laughs.“I don’t hold it against Belle, you know?She’s still a cool girl.”
“I get it.”I hate how my gut twists.“I kinda still miss Neil.”
“We’re pathetic.”Releasing a breath, he points to the kombucha in front of me.“Drink up, buttercup.Kombucha makes everything better.”
“Are you their marketing spokesman or something?”I grumble a little but pick up the glass.This time I try sipping instead of shooting it.The flavor of vinegar and sea brine fills my mouth, and I cough.“Ugh.”I search for a place I can spit it, but I don’t have the heart to torment the aloe plant on the end of the bar.“It tastes like motor oil.”
“You’ve tasted?—”
“I’m a mechanic,” I grumble.“It’s a job hazard sometimes, okay?”
