Without You

Page 107

Will had been so patient, but last night, he’d told me he was ready to have some alone time to reconnect. It hurt my heart so much to know I was hurting him. I closed my eyes and decided I was ready to be with Will again. I needed him even though I was just so afraid.
Me: How about a picnic at the clubhouse with just you and me?
Will: I’d love that, Lex. I’ll take care of everything. Pick you up at seven?
Me: Perfect. Will, I love you.
Will: I love you more, Lex.
I smiled as I tucked my phone away.
“That smile must mean you were talking to my brother?” Libby raised her eyebrows and smiled at me.
“Yep. He wanted to go to dinner and a movie, but I mentioned a picnic at the clubhouse with just us.”
Libby’s smile faded one second before she smiled again. “That sounds amazing, Alex. Y’all deserve some time together.”
Grace walked back into her room and sat down on the bed.
“What’s wrong, Grace? You look like someone just shot your horse,” Libby said with a giggle.
Grace let out a gasp. “Bite your tongue, bitch. How could you say such a thing?”
I laughed as I went back to flipping through a book I had picked up from the library.
“So, what’s bugging you, Grace?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
Libby tossed a pillow at Grace. “Bitch, please. You haven’t been yourself ever since that night you came back from your fling during spring break.”
I sat up as my mouth dropped to the floor. “What? What fling? You had a fling? Oh. My. God. You had a fling, and you didn’t tell me. What the hell, Grace? We’re best friends.”
Grace glared at Libby.
Libby shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry. I thought for sure that Alex knew about it.”
I shook my head. “No, Alex didn’t know anything about it. Grace Johnson, spill the beans right now.”
Grace looked at me, then Libby, and then back to me. “It’s not a big deal. It was nothing, and I haven’t been acting differently since spring break. You’ve only been around me three weeks, Libby! Have you noticed a difference, Alex?”
“Um…no, not really. Well, you do stare off into space a lot, like you’re thinking hard. But I want to know about the fling!” I moved to my knees and started hopping. I was just glad the conversation was not about me.
Grace laughed and pushed me over.
“Come on, Grace. Tell her about hot Noah,” Libby said with a wink.
I stopped jumping. “Noah? Isn’t that the name of the guy who bumped into you at A&M? It was Noah, right?”
“Yes!” Libby said as Grace answered at the same time, “No!”
Libby looked confused. “Grace, you two did so know each other. He said he was glad he didn’t knock you down this time.”
Again, my mouth was hanging open. “You had sex…with the hot A&M guy? How in the hell did you manage that?”
Libby giggled.
Grace began moving about nervously. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t want to rehash it. It’s over.”
Libby’s smile faded.
I reached for Grace’s arm. “Grace, did he hurt you or something?”
Grace rolled her eyes. “No! God, no. He was actually a great fuck. That’s all he was though.” She got up, headed over to her desk, and sat down. She opened up the laptop and began searching on the Internet.
Libby and I looked at each other.
I wasn’t sure if I should push for more info or not. “Well, can I ask if you knew he was going to be there?”
Without turning to face me, she said, “Nope, I had no clue.”
“So, y’all just bumped into each other again and decided to, as you call it, fuck?”
She turned and looked at me, and I swore she had tears in her eyes.
“Yes, Alex. We exchanged numbers on the beach. I wanted to get laid, and he wanted to get laid, so it all worked out perfectly. We fucked, and when we were done, I got up and left. End of story.” She turned back and began typing an email.
There was more to the story than Grace was letting on.
Libby stood up and walked over to Grace. “Grace, do you want to talk about it?”
Grace spun around in her chair and smiled at us. “No. Really, y’all, it’s not a big deal. Please, can we move on?”
Libby and I both said, “Okay,” as we looked at each other.
I glanced back up to Grace and made a mental note to talk to her alone later.
I pulled up and parked behind Will’s truck. Instead of having Will pick me up, I had decided to just meet him at the clubhouse. I took a deep breath as I opened the car door and got out. I walked up to the clubhouse door.