“Not when it comes to you.”
I couldn’t, because each day I spent with her I only managed to fall a little further. This woman had me wrapped tightly around her finger.
“I’ll see you later?” She pulled her finger from my mouth and stepped back with a sultry smile upon her lips. “Behave.”
Watching her walk away was testing my strength. But I remained where I was until the door closed behind her and I was left alone. Dad and Mom were at Gran’s, and Grace was off doing whatever it was that teenage girls do with their friends.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I assumed it was Mikey hassling me about what was taking me so long. Lifting my cell, I looked at the screen and froze.
Harley: Did you get what I sent you?
I’d forgotten up until that point I still had her programmed in my phone. It’d been so long since I used the number or even received anything from it that it was easy to forget.
Before I could respond, though I still wasn’t sure I wanted to, another text came through.
Harley: Happy Birthday Rhett, believe it or not I really miss you.
The earlier buzz I’d felt from being in the presence of AJ was gone and had since been replaced with an irritation I found hard to simmer.
She missed me? What the fuck was that, she fucking missed me?
Without thinking, I lifted the phone and hit the icon in the corner that triggered a call. Hearing her voice on the other end only further ignited the fire inside of me.
“Hi.” That sweet, innocent tone that once made me feel all twisted up inside no longer had the same effect.
“You miss me? Why now? Why after all this fucking time you decide that now you’ll miss me?” I knew I was asking questions yet giving her absolutely no time to answer them. “What happened? Did pretty boy dump your ass and now you feel all alone? Reach out for the boy you left behind? Well guess what, Harley? That boy is no longer here. He’s moved on too, and he’s fucking happy.”
I hung up feeling no better about what had just taken place. This was bullshit. She fucking missed me, my ass.
There were no text messages that followed, no return calls, and I was glad.
When I arrived at the bar, Mikey was the first to see me, and by the look on his face, I knew he understood that I needed this night after all. Between Terrance and him, I was fucking hammered after the first two hours. I ended up mumbling what had taken place with Harley and how I found a great girl, now she was gonna screw it all up.
Mike drove my truck home and called Uncle Gavin to pick him up. My dad was waiting on the front porch holding his own beer in hand, wearing one hell of a grin on his face. “Hungover or not, tomorrow your ass is up with the sun to lay tile in that bathroom.”
I brushed past him, waving my hand out as I moved toward my room. I didn’t even take the time to get undressed before I collapsed on my bed and grabbed my pillow to pull it beneath my head.
I don’t know how long I lay there, my mind racing over the events of the last few hours. I just knew that things began to clear and seem less hazy as I rolled over, and the first thing I spotted was that same damn envelope that started this all.
Quickly I sat up, reaching out to pick it up and tore open the top.
I dumped the contents onto my bed and about ten different photos fell out. Some were of us when we were young, maybe early teens, others were more recent. Our junior prom picture, one of the two of us down by the lake, both smiling as if we had everything we could ever want.
Mixed in with the photos was a note.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately and the realization that I made the wrong choices are more clear. I ran across a box the other day, one filled with memories of our times together and it made me realize just how much I’ve missed you. How much I've missed us and the way our lives used to be.
My phone rang, and I jumped in reaction to the sound. Looking down at the screen next to me, a panicked feeling rushed throughout my body as I quickly gathered the items and shoved them back into the envelope. It was almost as if I thought AJ could actually see the pictures or something.
Once they were safely back inside and hidden, I shoved it in my drawer and grabbed the phone just before the call went to voicemail.
“Hey.” I tried for smooth and calm. “I meant to call ya, but I sorta passed out once I got back here.”
“It was that fun, huh?” AJ asked with a laugh, and just the sound of it eased the tension inside me.
“Mikey and Terrance made sure that I was feeling very little by the time we all left. I have a feeling my dad is gonna make me pay for it tomorrow, though. I distinctly remember something about tiling and getting up early.” I still felt a little unsteady on my legs and chose to sit back down before I fell.
“Chloe and Grace are dragging me off to the movies tomorrow to watch the new Pitch Perfect.” I hung my head and covered my eyes with my other hand,
