Page 25 of The Lover
“Yep,” I lied.
Then I got out of the car and walked away from him. I didn’t even watch to see him leave. Let him see me walk away for a change.
I used my key to get in my dorm, and I was grateful Maryanne wasn’t there. She would want details and I wasn’t ready to share any of that. These past two days were for me and Jake only.
Then I got started on my plan. The first step was finding a vase for my flowers. The second step was packing.
* * *
“You’ve gotto be kidding me,” Denny said. “There is literally like one street.”
“I told you it was small.”
“It’s almost like a Hollywood set.”
It wasn’t. It was home. Jake left me Thursday morning. Now it was Saturday, just past evening, and I was back in Riverbend. Denny had a friend, who he suggested was maybe more than a friend, who had a car. Denny was able to borrow it to offer me a ride home.
I was sad to leave Maryanne, but she obviously understood why I was doing this. I was going to miss Denny too, but he said this separation would allow him to have one other person he could always be texting with, which he liked do in public because he thought it made him look super popular.
“You’re sure you can’t stay?” I said. He’d pulled over in front of the Hair Stop, which was across the street from the diner. “I’ll buy you a burger, but warning they are not as good as Eddy’s.”
“No, I told Chad I would have the car back tonight.”
“Thanks for doing this.”
“You are sure you know what you’re doing?”
“One hundred percent positive.”
“You love him,” Denny said.
“Of course I do.” I looked over at him and I could see he wanted to say something. “What?”
“You’re doing all this for him. Dropping out of school, coming back home. And you’re doing it because you think all the signs point to him loving you back, but… what if he doesn’t?”
My heart sank. Because wasn’t that the one-million-dollar question? What if Jake never did get to that place where he was deeply in love with me? As much in love with me as I was with him? Because if he didn’t get there, thenwewould never work. It would be too lopsided and I knew I couldn’t live my life that way.
“One hundred percent positive,” I repeated stubbornly. “That’s how much I believe in what I’m doing.”
I had to.
“Okay. Ugh. You suck. No one who is nineteen should be one hundred percent positive about what they want out of life.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? Early bloomer.”
“Let’s get your stuff.”
We got out of the car, and the first thing I did was knock on the door next to the Hair Stop. It was a small house where Bella, who owned the Stop, lived. She smiled when she opened the door, and she gave me a hug.
“Welcome home, honey.”
“Thanks.”
She held out the key. “Why do I think if Jake finds out I helped you with all of this, he’ll be madder than a bucking bull?”
“If he is, it will be with me. And trust me, I can handle Jake Talley.”
“I bet you can. All right. Here you go. You know there is nothing much to it. A bed, a bathroom, and a kitchenette.”
