“Uh huh. Tell that to someone who doesn’t know how bad you had it for that guy.”
Like she needed to be reminded. Being back in Carlton reminded her of nights with Deke she’d rather forget. First date. First kiss. First time she had sex. All of her firsts were wrapped up in just one man, and that made him hard to forget.
“Yeah, like a hundred years ago, Jude.”
“I know we’re old,” she said, slapping Harper’s thigh. “But we’re not that old.”
Some days she felt like it. Maybe it was the fact that she spent her days teaching little ones that made Harper feel so old. Their energy and enthusiasm for life made her feel like she was missing out on all the fun.
“What’s wrong?” Jude asked, frowning at her. “And don’t say nothing because I know that look.”
“I don’t know.” She’d tried not to let her break-up get her down, telling herself that it was better she found out that Ty was a cheating asshat before the wedding, but there were days when it was hard not to miss the years she’d wasted on him. “I just thought I’d be looking for a house and planning my honeymoon, not unemployed and sharing a shoebox with my bestie.” Knowing she sounded like an ungrateful, whiny brat, she added, “Not that I don’t love you for taking a homeless girl in.”
Jude laughed. “You’re so dramatic. You had money saved. All the money you almost blew on a wedding. Thank God the D-bag saved you the expense.”
Harper smiled. She liked her friend’s new nickname for her ex. D-bag. Jude snatched her phone off the table when it buzzed and her smile spread. “Guess who’s gonna be there tonight?”
Uh oh. Jude’s sing-song voice usually meant Harper was in trouble. “I don’t think I wanna know.”
“You knew you were gonna have to see him sometime. Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with.”
She could have waited another day… or year. “Who says I have to see him again? Just because we live in the same town—”
“There’s one grocery store,” Harper said, curling her fingers as she spoke. “One liquor store. One convenience store. One coffee shop. One post office. One gas station. One bar. One pizza joint—”
“Okay, I get it. I would’ve run into him eventually.”
Maybe it was better to see him again when they had their friends as a buffer. She had no idea how she expected him to act, but according to Jude her ex had a Kawasaki-sized chip on his shoulder. Not that he hadn’t in high school, but then he’d had good reason. An alcoholic father who beat him and his kid brother and a mother who turned a blind eye.
“Let’s figure out what you’re going to wear,” Jude said, grabbing her hand. “Something hot.”
“I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard,” Harper said, digging her heels in. “Or at all. It’s not like I want him back. The guy dumped me… like a lifetime ago.”
“All the more reason to look hot tonight,” Jude said, reaching into the pocket of her denim shorts for a stick of her favorite watermelon gum. “Let him see what he’s been missing. Oh, and you should totally show off the tattoo.”
“I want to forget I have it, remember?”
If she didn’t mind wasting money she’d have it burnt off, but every dollar counted until she found steady work. Easier said than done in a town with one school.
“Besides, I’d have to wear a bikini to show this thing off and I don’t intend to strut into the Scruffy Duck wearing—”
“Okay, okay, you can show him later. In the bed of his pick-up truck.”
Harper felt her cheeks burning. She’d lost her virginity in the bed of Deke’s pick-up truck and those words, pick-up truck, always made her feel sixteen again. That’s why she’d said ‘hell no’ when Tyler suggested buying one.
“Are you ever gonna let me live that down?” Harper grumbled.
It may sound cheesy to her best friend, but that had been one of the best nights of her life. The bed of that old pick-up truck under the stars, her favorite country song, a bottle of wine and the boy she loved. Life was good that night. Too bad it went downhill from there.
“I’m just teasing ya,” Jude said, hip-checking her as they walked down the narrow hall to their bedrooms. “I give Deke a hard time about it too.”
Harper gaped at her best friend. Was nothing sacred to this girl? “You talked to Deke about our first time? Are you crazy?” she hissed, tugging on Jude’s hand before she could enter Harper’s bedroom to raid her closet. “I told you that in confidence!”
“Oh my God, we were closer than sisters back then. Like you weren’t gonna tell me every little detail.”
Some things Harper had kept to herself. Like how sweet and gentle Deke had been. He’d had a well-earned reputation for being a bad-ass and she didn’t want anyone to know about the side of himself he’d shared only with her.
“I still can’t believe he stayed here,” Harper said, allowing herself to be yanked into the small room. She collapsed on the double bed, face first, letting her feet dangle off the end. “He was the most talented artist I’ve ever seen.” Even if he did choose skin as his canvas. “He could’ve made it anywhere.”
