Love Story
Page 36
“Nope, but she did order me to download no fewer than five weather apps on my phone,” I say, picking up the iPhone and clicking on one of them.
“What?” Reece asks when I frown.
I turn my screen around so he can see what I’m looking at. The app’s zeroed in on our location, and there are two red exclamation points and one orange one.
“What are we dealing with?” he asks. “Locusts? Famine?”
“Severe thunderstorm, flash floods and…oh this is nice. Tornado warning,” I read.
“Shit,” he mutters, picking up his menu again.
Darla comes back with our sodas, and I order a grilled cheese with bacon, while Reece gets a burger.
“What’s the verdict on the weather?” I ask Darla, as she scribbles our orders. “Going to let up?”
She looks out the window, tapping her pen. “Where you kids headed?”
“Kansas City.”
She purses her lips. “Wouldn’t do it. Wouldn’t advise my kids to do it, not my grandkids either. Been like this since last night, river’s high, freeway’s flooded in a couple spots.”
Darla shrugs, then shuffles away in her bright white tennis shoes, already hollering our order toward the kitchen.
“Well that’s encouraging,” I say.
“It’s just rain,” Reece says.
The weather gods disagree, and the entire diner lights up with a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder that sounds like it’s right on top of us. The rain pounds even harder against the window.
I reach for my straw, tapping it against the table to poke it through the wrapper before plunging it into my soda. “So you never did tell me. You ever talk to Abby?”
Reece’s Coke stops halfway to his mouth. “Seriously? Now? Here?”
I bite my lip and fidget with the wrapper. “Guess it’s been on my mind. Because of Oscar,” I clarify quickly, lest he guess I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s kiss on the highway over and over and over.
He narrows his eyes, and I know he has zero intention of answering my question. I can see it in the stubborn set of his jaw, even before he snaps back. “That’s no longer your business.”
“How can you say that?” I ask. “Considering she’s the cause of us breaking up.”
“Bullshit,” he snaps, before lowering his voice and leaning forward. “You’re the reason we…broke up. Shit, were we even dating?”
I lean forward. “I sure as hell thought so when I handed over my V card.”
His eyes narrow. “You act like you handed it over easily. Like it didn’t take me all goddamn summer to get into your pants.”
I smile slowly, because though his words are cruel, his eyes are warm, and I happen to know that those months of foreplay were very enjoyable. For both of us.
“So you remember.”
His eyes go dark. “Hell yeah, I remember. Every damned thing. The way you kiss, the way you taste, the sounds you make. I remember the look in your eyes the first time I nudged inside you, surprise and excitement, and…”
I swallow dryly. “And what?”
Reece shakes his head. “Nothing.”
It’s not nothing. I know exactly what he saw in my eyes that night. Love.
But he doesn’t say it, and I sure as hell am not about to.
Darla brings out our food, and the rest of our meal is mostly silent, both of us lost in thought, or memories, or in my case…jealousy.
In high school, there was only ever one person who caused a ripple in our friendship and that was Abby. They dated for two years, and I was always aware that she had everything I didn’t. The prom picture. The holding hands. The football games.
She was the girlfriend, and she was also very careful to keep me in my “kid sister” role. Abby made a big deal about being cool with my and Reece’s relationship, but always in a slightly condescending way, as though wanting to remind him that I was practically his sibling.
Best day of my life was learning they broke up when she went off to college.
No, that’s not true. Best day of my life was when Reece kissed me for real.
But the worst day of my life was when I realized that though he might be sleeping with me, his heart was still with her—with the high school sweetheart who went away to college only to come running back to his open arms, while I, the pathetic, adoring rebound, looked on.
Literally looked on.
“Lucy.”
I look up when I see Reece watching me, and even though he looks guarded and frustrated there’s something else there too. Something vulnerable, even a little tender.
Then he shuts it down. “Never mind.”
He nods at my mostly empty plate. “You done?”
I nod.
Reece pulls out his wallet, throws a couple bills down, and scoots out of the booth, heading toward the front door.
“We can split it,” I say, grabbing my purse and his jacket, and chasing after him.
He doesn’t bother to respond, and I nearly slam into his back as I follow him into the storm.
I see immediately why he’s come to a halt, understand exactly why he’s swearing under his breath.
The parking lot is a swimming pool. “Holy crap,” I yell over the whining wind, lifting my hands to shield my eyes so I can look toward Horny. The water’s more than halfway up the tires. “What happened?”
“Guess they weren’t dicking around with the flash flood warning,” he replies.
“What?” Reece asks when I frown.
I turn my screen around so he can see what I’m looking at. The app’s zeroed in on our location, and there are two red exclamation points and one orange one.
“What are we dealing with?” he asks. “Locusts? Famine?”
“Severe thunderstorm, flash floods and…oh this is nice. Tornado warning,” I read.
“Shit,” he mutters, picking up his menu again.
Darla comes back with our sodas, and I order a grilled cheese with bacon, while Reece gets a burger.
“What’s the verdict on the weather?” I ask Darla, as she scribbles our orders. “Going to let up?”
She looks out the window, tapping her pen. “Where you kids headed?”
“Kansas City.”
She purses her lips. “Wouldn’t do it. Wouldn’t advise my kids to do it, not my grandkids either. Been like this since last night, river’s high, freeway’s flooded in a couple spots.”
Darla shrugs, then shuffles away in her bright white tennis shoes, already hollering our order toward the kitchen.
“Well that’s encouraging,” I say.
“It’s just rain,” Reece says.
The weather gods disagree, and the entire diner lights up with a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder that sounds like it’s right on top of us. The rain pounds even harder against the window.
I reach for my straw, tapping it against the table to poke it through the wrapper before plunging it into my soda. “So you never did tell me. You ever talk to Abby?”
Reece’s Coke stops halfway to his mouth. “Seriously? Now? Here?”
I bite my lip and fidget with the wrapper. “Guess it’s been on my mind. Because of Oscar,” I clarify quickly, lest he guess I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s kiss on the highway over and over and over.
He narrows his eyes, and I know he has zero intention of answering my question. I can see it in the stubborn set of his jaw, even before he snaps back. “That’s no longer your business.”
“How can you say that?” I ask. “Considering she’s the cause of us breaking up.”
“Bullshit,” he snaps, before lowering his voice and leaning forward. “You’re the reason we…broke up. Shit, were we even dating?”
I lean forward. “I sure as hell thought so when I handed over my V card.”
His eyes narrow. “You act like you handed it over easily. Like it didn’t take me all goddamn summer to get into your pants.”
I smile slowly, because though his words are cruel, his eyes are warm, and I happen to know that those months of foreplay were very enjoyable. For both of us.
“So you remember.”
His eyes go dark. “Hell yeah, I remember. Every damned thing. The way you kiss, the way you taste, the sounds you make. I remember the look in your eyes the first time I nudged inside you, surprise and excitement, and…”
I swallow dryly. “And what?”
Reece shakes his head. “Nothing.”
It’s not nothing. I know exactly what he saw in my eyes that night. Love.
But he doesn’t say it, and I sure as hell am not about to.
Darla brings out our food, and the rest of our meal is mostly silent, both of us lost in thought, or memories, or in my case…jealousy.
In high school, there was only ever one person who caused a ripple in our friendship and that was Abby. They dated for two years, and I was always aware that she had everything I didn’t. The prom picture. The holding hands. The football games.
She was the girlfriend, and she was also very careful to keep me in my “kid sister” role. Abby made a big deal about being cool with my and Reece’s relationship, but always in a slightly condescending way, as though wanting to remind him that I was practically his sibling.
Best day of my life was learning they broke up when she went off to college.
No, that’s not true. Best day of my life was when Reece kissed me for real.
But the worst day of my life was when I realized that though he might be sleeping with me, his heart was still with her—with the high school sweetheart who went away to college only to come running back to his open arms, while I, the pathetic, adoring rebound, looked on.
Literally looked on.
“Lucy.”
I look up when I see Reece watching me, and even though he looks guarded and frustrated there’s something else there too. Something vulnerable, even a little tender.
Then he shuts it down. “Never mind.”
He nods at my mostly empty plate. “You done?”
I nod.
Reece pulls out his wallet, throws a couple bills down, and scoots out of the booth, heading toward the front door.
“We can split it,” I say, grabbing my purse and his jacket, and chasing after him.
He doesn’t bother to respond, and I nearly slam into his back as I follow him into the storm.
I see immediately why he’s come to a halt, understand exactly why he’s swearing under his breath.
The parking lot is a swimming pool. “Holy crap,” I yell over the whining wind, lifting my hands to shield my eyes so I can look toward Horny. The water’s more than halfway up the tires. “What happened?”
“Guess they weren’t dicking around with the flash flood warning,” he replies.
