I laugh and give him a quick rundown of the events that happened. How I found that stupid wedding countdown and continued the stupidity by not just asking her about it. How I obsessed over what Kevin looked like, and how my insecurities run deeper than even I know. It’s the only way I can explain turning into a version of myself I don’t recognize.
“Do you love her?”
“I’ve loved her since the moment she smiled at me rather than sprayin’ me with mace,” I admit.
Leaning back in the chair, he shakes his head at me. “I say this with all the love in the world, but what the hell is wrong with you, man? You had everythin’ you ever wanted with her. At least from where I sit.”
“I did.”
“Unless she’s bad in bed or secretly as bitchy as everyone wants her to be, but it really does look like you lived out your own damned fairy tale.”
How ironic he and Carter have the exact interpretation. I went from a Disney fairy tale to Grimms’ in a span of forty-eight hours. And I’m the wicked villain in the story.
“She’s exactly who you see. And she’s the furthest thing from bad in bed. Trust me. I just… I guess I didn’t think I’d really get to keep her. Every other woman was always on loan to me. Never meant for me.”
Everett glares. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? She was yours, dude.”
“You know as well as I do that I’ve never been the end goal for any woman. I’m always a pit stop. Part of the journey, but never the destination. And part of me didn’t think I deserved her.”
“After the way you acted, you definitely don’t now.”
We both laugh. “I just want her to come back. I’d give anythin’ to get her to come here.”
“Okay, it’s comin’ up on the New Year, and I think this warrants a resolution for you.”
“Yeah?”
“Get out of your damn head!” he shouts. “You’re your own worst enemy, Rhett. You’re a nice guy, probably the nicest you’ll find when you’re in your right mind, but you ruin things because you can’t stop from overthinkin’ everythin’.”
Getting up, I grab two beers from the fridge to take a small breather. It’s the truth, but it’s hard to accept what I’ve been telling myself for weeks now. Walking back, I hand him a can. “You might be onto somethin’.”
“Wanna know what she told that cheese dick? I was smokin’ with Tim outside when they came out.”
Everett recounts how Brynlee told Kevin she doesn’t want a loveless relationship or become a drugged-up housewife dealing with cheating like his mother. What makes me happy but depressed is when Everett tells me how she told Kevin how great I am in bed. That I’m everything this rich asshole isn’t, and he can’t give her what she needs because he can’t buy it.
“Was her split lip really an accident?” This has bothered me since that night. Was she coverin’ for him to get him to leave, or was she tellin’ the truth? Is there still some love there that she didn’t want him to get in trouble?
“It could have been. She wobbled and twisted her ankle on the curb tryin’ to take her arm back. He threatened to get her medicated because she was actin’ crazy by wantin’ to stay here with you. He reached for her as she fell, but he also could’ve smacked her and made her fall.”
“She could be coverin’ for him?”
He shrugs. “It’s hard to tell, but I don’t know that she’d do that. If she says it was an accident, I think I’d believe her. Wouldn’t stop me from beatin’ his ass, though.”
It makes me feel a little better to know she’s not protecting an abuser. “Thanks.”
“You really don’t know where she is?”
I shrug and drink the beer. “I’d guess she went back to Chicago. She told me once she missed bein’ invisible. I’ve thought about goin’ there, but I don’t know the first place to look.”
“And part of you worries she went back to the rich asshat.” I nod and avoid him as I focus on my beer tower. “No way. That dude ain’t shit, and she told him as much. Pretty much when she verbally punched him in the nuts.”
That’s my girl.Formergirl. “If I tell you somethin’, you have to swear not to tell anyone. Especially Carter and Darla.”
“I swear.”
“I did somethin’ a little crazy after she left,” I say and walk into my bedroom.
“What’d you do?” Everett asks.
