Page 273 of Nobody's Girl

And that’s how she ruined my night.

I have to see her and stay with her, and Laura has to be there, making all this shit even harder.

If I could just tell Laura what we all are, things would be so much better.

The sound of my truck pulling into our driveway lets me know my mother and Laura are back. I walk into the living room where my father dozes in his recliner and an old western on the television blares.

The front door opens and Mom yells, “Turn that dang thing down!”

Dad jerks awake and looks at me as if I had something to do with how abruptly he was woken up. I shrug my shoulders at him. “You got the remote, Pop.”

After a search of his chair, he finds the remote and turns the sound down. “You didn’t have to yell, Gertie,” he bellows.

Mom drops several large bags on the couch. “You need a hearing aid, Joe.”

Dad mumbles something about not wanting to hear everything and Mom shoots him a look of irritation. Laura comes inside, holding more bags. I decide to turn on the charm, trying to get her to agree to go with me to New Orleans.

Taking the bags from her, I kiss her cheek. “Did you have a good time, baby doll?” I ask.

Her light blue eyes look at me with curiosity as she says, “Baby doll? It’s been a while since you’ve called me that, Kyle.”

I set the bags down and pull her up into a hug, lifting her off her feet. “I know and I think a break from this place would help our relationship.”

I spin her around and carry her off to my bedroom. “Kyle!” she shouts as her face turns red. “Your parents!”

I look back to see my mother beaming at us. “Never mind them, Laura. They love you and want us to be happy.”

Carrying her into my room, I kick the door closed behind us and lay her down on my unmade bed. Her blonde hair fans out on my pillow as she looks up at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “How sweet you’re being,” she says.

I sit down on the bed, and run my hands through her silky, soft hair. “I’ve been neglecting you. My mind’s been a mess. We’ve had an offer and I’ve already accepted for my part. I’m going to New Orleans early in the morning. Ally’s parents got a new house and we’re invited to go for a visit. She and Eden are there already.”

Laura looks away from me and her face is void of any readable emotion. “So that’s why the good mood. You get to go see Ally.” Her words are soft but full of hurt.

I kiss her cheek and lean my forehead to the side of hers as she continues to turn her head from me. “That’s not why, Laura. It gives us a chance to get away from here for a little while. We need that, don’t you think?”

“We need something, I agree,” she says, then scoots over, moving away from me. “Why is that do you think?”

Great! She needs to talk and we’ve little time to get things right with us before I need to leave with her.

“Things are different and I don’t do different really well,” I say as I stand up and pace around my bedroom. “That’s why I need to spend more time with Ally and her husband, so I can get it through my thick head she and I are over. You and I are together and I need to appreciate that.”

She turns on her side, resting her head on her hand. “You and I don’t have to be together. You go on without me and see if you miss me at all.”

I need her to go!

“Laura, of course I would miss you. Come on, go with me. It’ll be fun. She’s sending the jet for us. You and I can work through this little rough patch. I care about you a lot,” I say, then sit back down on the bed and run my hand up her tanned leg.

“You care about me. That should be enough, shouldn’t it?” she asks. “You have a bit of trouble telling me that. You don’t say it very often. Yet you have no trouble telling Ally you love her.”

Ouch! She’s not pulling any punches.

“You’d rather I tell you something I don’t feel yet?” I ask, taking her chin in my hand to make her look at me. “I care deeply about you, Laura. And may I add, you haven’t told me how you feel about me in a long time either.”

Her eyes narrow. “Kyle, I’m crazy about you and you have to know that. I come over here, uninvited, every day to see you. You don’t call me, take me anywhere, or walk me home. Yet I hang on, hoping you’ll get it that Ally has moved on and left you behind.”

My heart contracts at her words. She has done all that and I sit in my room and whine to myself how I love Ally. My life is going to always have her in it and it’s making me nuts. If I could only talk to Laura about this, things would be so much better.

Threading my fingers through hers, I look at her. “I know I’ve been a crappy boyfriend. I asked you not to see anyone else and have done nothing with you, left you dangling.”