Chloe links her arm through mine and tugs me to the picnic table. “Alex is still coming, right?”
“She says she is, but who knows?”
Chloe winces. It’s a low blow, a reminder that lately, I expect her to disappoint rather than surprise.
Obviously, the trust building has been slow going.
I wait for Chloe to remind me that Alex has also been through hell and to cut her some slack and to give her time. Both of which would be perfectly reasonable things to ask of me. So it throws me slightly when she flashes me a knowing smile. “She’ll show. Have some faith.”
It’s hard to find faith in Alex, considering she has a history of disappearing when things get hard. Making promises only to turnaround and break them. I’m not entirely hopeful that this time will be any different. “We’ll see, I guess.”
Chloe starts as though she wants to add something but shakes her head. “I’m going to grab a beer. Want one?”
May as well. Itisa celebration, after all.
Just as Chloe pulls out two Konas from the cooler, I hear Alex’s motorcycle. My stomach twists, and there’s an excited flutter in my chest. It’s as if my entire body is saying “she’s here.”
I barely have time to process that Chloe was right before Alex jogs through the back gate wearing a white tank top, tattered jeans, and Mason’s beat-up old Reds hat. Her riding jacket is clutched in one hand and a bottle of my dad’s favorite chardonnay in the other. When she smiles at me, it makes my chest do another kind of flutter.
She greets my dad first, wishing him a happy birthday, then greets everyone else. When she finally gets to me, Chloe hands her a beer.
“Sorry, my appointment took longer than I thought.” She slips onto the bench to my left and tosses her jacket beside her. She smiles at me again, sending the butterflies in my stomach into overdrive. “Hi.”
“Hi.” There are still bags under her eyes, but they aren’t as prominent as the last time I saw her. She doesn’t look as thin and appears lighter somehow. And still so beautiful.
My gaze wanders from her face to her arm that’s wrapped in what looks like cling wrap. Underneath is a tattoo of a dragon wrapped around a sword and a replica of Mason’s favorite fireheart twenty-sided dice set as the pommel. It starts just under the peonies on her bicep, the point of the blade almost touching her elbow.
“Is it done?” I ask, resisting the urge to run my fingers along her plastic-covered skin.
Alex pops a shrimp into her mouth and twists her arm to look at the tattoo. “It’ll need to get touched up, but, yeah, it’s done.”
Chloe leans across me so she can get a closer view and pokes at it. “It looks…raw.”
Alex pulls her arm away and glares. “Ow! Why?”
“Did it hurt?” Chloe asks, unbothered.
“When you jabbed it with your finger? Yeah, kinda!”
Chloe rolls her eyes. “No, when you got it done, you dork.”
“It didn’t tickle,” Alex says and rubs at the sore spot.
“I was thinking of getting one,” Chloe says after a thoughtful hum.
I can only imagine what Chloe loves enough to get etched permanently into her skin. “What would you get?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Something cute. Maybe the Hokie bird on the top of my foot, I haven’t decided.”
“You want a fucking turkey on the top of your foot?” Alex asks incredulously.
Chloe dismisses her with a wave. “Oh please, you got flowers to match Julia’s eyes. Who are you to judge?”
Alex’s face turns red, and she swigs her beer instead of replying.
Hiding a grin, I gently bump Alex’s shoulder with mine. “Mason would’ve loved it. Yours, I mean.”
She flashes me a lopsided smile. “I think so, too.”
