Page 121 of Dove
My eyebrows rose questioningly. “And that led to you showing up with him on his requested day off?”
A faint blush rose on her cheeks. “Well, no.”
I suppressed a smile. Reverie could play therapist about my problems all day, doling out advice like a guru, but she was horrible when it came to her own troubles. Getting stuff out of her was like pulling teeth. It was why I hadn’t known she was having issues in LA to begin with. At one time it had hurt my feelings, thinking she didn’t trust me as much as I did her, but I realized it was because Reverie didn’t think herself worthyof anyone bothering themselves over. Rev locked up everything and took care of it herself, long before anyone could even realize there was something wrong to begin with.
In a way, I could relate. I hadn’t always had Josh, and there had been a time when my mother and I were two lonely, grieving ships passing in the night, unable to talk to each other or express our feelings. Meeting Josh helped me open up, and meeting Reverie made me realize that we all needed someone to lean on.
Since the moment our friendship started, she’d always been my biggest cheerleader, the first one to shake her pom pom’s and cheer me on. She had always been in my corner, and I had always been in hers. If I could help her in anyway with this, I would.
“He came in for a haircut and…” she trailed off, blush spreading.Interesting.So, Rev was keeping some important details to herself, too. She cleared her throat. “We agreed it wouldn’t be anything serious.”
“Rev,” I began hesitantly, then lowered my voice, making sure Zeke wouldn’t hear, “you ran across the country when you found out he?—”
“I know,” she interrupted. “I know. But…” She shrugged, as if it was less of a deal than it actually was. “We talked.”
“He knows you’re not planning on staying in Haven, right?”
“He knows I’m leaving whenever I figure out what the hell I want to do,” she muttered, “yes.”
I chewed at my bottom lip, thinking. This spelled out heartbreak, I just couldn’t figure out for who yet. Reverie? Zeke? Both of them? It was a bad idea wrapped up in lust and nostalgia. They’d been each other’s firsts, and we all saw how Zeke was after Reverie left.Shehadn’t, but I had. There was no way he was fully over her and willing to do no strings without feelings getting involved.
But I couldn’t say one damn thing. My bad idea came in the form of being in a relationship with my absent stepbrother. I guess we both were good at making bad decisions.
“God.” I gave a self-deprecating shake of my head. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”
A grin spread across her face, and somehow, she knew exactly what I meant. “That’s why we’re besties,” she agreed cheerfully. Of course Rev would think that agoodquality for us to share. “I knew you’d take your walk on the wild side someday.”
“It’s wild alright.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think better of them, and I wished I could reel them back in. Usually, I wouldn’t mind spilling all the juicy details to her, but I was trying not to go in depth on what Josh and I had been up to out of respect for him. It wasn’t like he was some guy we were gossiping over. Reverie had known him foryears. It felt weird blabbing about our sex life, even if it was to my best friend.
“Iknewyou were holding out,” she accused a little too loudly. “I want details—no, Idemanddetails!”
“Reverie!” I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me as I chided her, afraid he’d overhear her hounding me.
“He’s too busy talking shop with Zeke.” She gave a dismissive hand wave in their direction. “They haven’t seen each other since he got back. Now tell me has he...” She leaned against the truck to get closer, whispering the rest in my ear.
The beat of the sun in combination with her filthy words had my body temperature rising, and I just knew my face looked as red as a tomato right now.
“Dove?”
I jumped so hard my elbow smacked against the door’s side mirror as Josh rounded our side of the truck.
“What?” I squeaked, rubbing the sore spot. Reverie snickered.
He looked at us funny. First at me, embarrassed and twitchy, then at Rev, calm, cool and collected, smirking from her lounged position against the truck.
“We’re all set,” he announced, gaze shifting between us with suspicion. Josh knew our antics well, considering he’d had to deal with us as sneaky teenagers. I hadn’t told him yet that Reverie knew about us, but I would imagine it wasn’t hard for him to guess what we’d been talking about.
I flushed under his scrutiny and cleared my throat. “Awesome.”
Zeke placed the empty canisters in the back of his truck before heading over to us. It’d been a while since I last saw him, but he was still as gigantic as I remember. As if to appear smaller, he walked with his shoulders slightly hunched, but it was like an elephant trying to appear unthreatening to a mouse. He even dwarfed Josh, standing beside him. He was the largest of the Gallardo brothers, and the youngest.
“Ready?” he asked Reverie, curling an arm around her. He looked like he had all those years ago when they’d been dating.Smitten.
How Rev couldn’t see it was beyond me. But my best friend had a knack of ignoring the things she didn’t want to acknowledge. She wanted a good time with Zeke while she was back in Haven, and she’d have it. I just hoped she didn’t break his heart after it was all said and done.Again.
“Thanks for the rescue, Zeke.” I smiled up gratefully at him, and he gave me an answering nod, a twitch of a smile on his lips. He was only ever animated with Rev, or so she told me, otherwise he was stoic and quiet.
“Hey,” Reverie squawked indignantly, “I came to your rescue, too!”
