Page 14 of One Little Lie
“Jesus. I don’t know how to get through to him,” Colt whispers sadly, finally releasing my hands.
We watch as he picks up two large pizzas and, without glancing our way, raises his hand. “See you later.”
As quickly as he came, he’s gone, and my heart feels hollow.
“I never wish GG’s scary fucking voodoo on anyone, but damn, I hope she sets him right.”
“How so?” It falls from my lips so fast, I have to force myself to sit back and relax. Placing my hands in my lap, I clasp them together until my knuckles turn white.
“Oh, lord. Don’t tell me you forgot? Remember, I told you about the tarot things and how she matched everyone?”
“Yeah?”
“She dropped a nickname a couple of weeks ago.Fibby. Who the hell knows what it means, maybe fibber? I mean, I’ve never known Halton to lie, but she’s scary good when it comes to this shit. As long as I can stay far, far away from those cards, I’m good. But things need to change for Halt. He’s turning into something he always hated.”
“Wh-What’s that?” My voice is two octaves too high, but Colton doesn’t notice.
“A sad fucking asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I love him. I always will. But he hasn’t made it easy, ever, and it’s getting worse the older he gets.”
“Why do you think he’s sad?” I can’t help myself. I need to know.
Colton shrugs as something dark crosses his face. Something I’ve never seen from my happy-go-lucky friend. “Sad, or haunted. Either way, someone or something weighs heavily on his soul, and he doesn’t know how to let it go.”
We’re interrupted when the pizza arrives, and I use the distraction to ruminate on all Colton just said. A niggling feeling of unease has settled in my gut, and I don’t know what to make of it.
“You’re really good at changing the subject, Ryguy, but seriously, I want to know what happened to send you running home without any of your stuff.”
“Th-Things just didn’t work out with Matthew.”
“You were going to marry him.”
I was. It seemed like the right thing to do. I gave him as much of my heart as I could. The piece that was left, but I always knew it might not be enough.
“I was,” is all I can admit to Colton, though.
“Don’t get me wrong here, Ry. You know I love you, but I’ve known you a long time. You don’t seem all that upset by a broken engagement. Promhole devastated you, but someone you were going to marry suddenly broke things off, and you’re just … eh? Didn’t work out? What gives?”
God, if he only knew promhole was his brother, and he did more than devastate me. He shattered me into so many pieces I’m still not whole.
“I think I just liked the idea of it working out between Matthew and me. I wanted what Mom and Dad had so badly that I was willing to settle. When he called me on it, I didn’t have an argument. I loved him, I think. But was I in love with him? Soul crushingly in love with him? I don’t think I’ve ever known that feeling.”
You, my friend, are a goddamn liar.
“I get the feeling that’s not the entire story, but I’ll be here when you want to talk. Can I tell you something?”
“Always.”
“Matthew was a nut monkey.”
My fork drops to my plate with a loud, clattering noise. The couple next to us glances over, and I force a smile.
“Why do you say that?”
Colton shrugs and runs his hands over his five o’clock shadow. “He was a prick to me, so that was strike number one. Whoever you marry has to love me, too. We’re a package deal.” He winks. “Strike number two? He never noticed you. He never held your hand; he didn’t watch your face to see your expression change to know if you were happy or sad. He was just blah. You deserve someone that can’t take his eyes off of you. Someone who loves you so much they’re convinced you’ll always shine brighter than the stars. We had pretty great examples of love growing up, Ryguy. Don’t sell yourself short. You deserve the fairytale.”
I sit back, stunned. “That’s pretty romantic coming from Peter Pan. But why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“I don’t know. I kept thinking you’d back out. I would have, though, before you walked down the aisle.” He smirks.
