Page 55 of Come Back To Me
“We all will,” Glen says. I laughed as soon as I saw him in the passenger side with a Scream mask on. I don’t want to know how Leo talked him into it, but I have a good guess. Glen has one arm wrapped around his waist while his other fingers linger at the hem of his skirt.
I look around, not wanting to see where his hand will go next. The line moves and my friends let me go ahead of them. Not arguing, I lift the tap and fill my cup. Once Leo is stepping intomy place, I take my first sip while trying not ruin my black lipstick.
“You look fantastic,” Gabe says from beside us. “You all do.”
“Thanks.” I lift my cup to him. “This costume called right to me.”
“It was the right choice.” He shifts his feet, looking between us all.
“And you are . . . let me guess.” I snap my fingers. “That one dude fromWicked.”
“Ding ding ding.”
“And what about your husband?” Leo asks, peering around me.
“He didn’t want to dress up and is actually at his best friend’s house tonight passing out candy.”
“That’s too bad,” I chime in. “I wanted to thank him for the yummy baked goods.”
“You’ll have other chances, I’m sure.” He looks behind him. “Oh, that’s my neighbor from across the street. I better go say hi. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Later,” I say, turning back to my friends. “You two want to hang out here or go inside.”
Leo’s eyes roam the yard. “If we stay out here, I want to get close to the fire. It’s freezing.”
Glen snaps his gaze to my best friend, shaking his head. Leo folds his hand over his mouth. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Ry-Ry. I bet the last thing you want to do right now is stand near open flames.”
“It’s fine. It is cold, and I wouldn’t call it open flames.”
Leo’s body relaxes. “Oh good. I was worried I’d said the wrong thing. I do that a lot.”
“You do,” Glen adds. “But you mean well, baby.”
“You do.” I squeeze Leo’s shoulder, smiling softly at him.
“Yeah, but still. I need to think before I say shit.”
“You’ll get there. None of us are perfect. I’m sure I do wrong shit all the time.” I sip from my cup again.
“Not really.” Leo’s eyes blink hard.
“Trust me. I’m far from perfect.”
“Sure, sure.” Glen winks and chuckles.
They really have no idea how imperfect I can be. It’s my fault three people are dead. Two mostly innocent and one who is really hard to mourn. Who knows how many more deaths I’ll be responsible for in the future.
“Who wants to go with me on a wine run?” Gabe shakes two empty bottles.
“I can,” Leo volunteers himself.
“And I’ll drive because this one is lightweight,” Glen offers as well.
“Great.” Gabe stares at me. “Sorry for taking them away.”
“Ah.” I slice my hand in the air. “It’s fine. I was thinking about finding a way to take a break from them.”
“Hardy har fucking har,” Leo says, walking between us, and Glen spits his drink.
