Page 66 of Sweet Spot

25

LIA

By the time we finally arrived at Ritchie’s house, it was close to 7PM. I was surprised and somewhat relieved to see I barely recognized the place at all. The outside, once a paint-chipped white with red shutters, was now coated with fresh layers of dark blue and brown. The lawn was neatly trimmed, actually green for once, and on it was the “For Sale” sign that made me feel as if this chapter of my life were finally and officially ending.

“You ready for this?” Lukas asked, giving my hand a squeeze.

“Yup,” I said, squeezing his hand back as I confidently rang the doorbell.

But I was surprised when the door swung open because greeting me were three familiar faces, none of them Ritchie. “Hey!” they said in unison, pulling me in for a hug.

It took several moments in the hug before I recognized my former best friends, Bree and Lyssa, and Lyssa’s brother, Stephen. They all wrapped around me in a group hug that brought me back to high school, and when they pulled away, Bree literally shrieked.

“Oh God, who’s this?” she asked, staring at Lukas. “Where is he from and where do I get one?” she asked with volume and pitch that increased with every word. She had always been the hilariously dramatic one of the group – though it was certainly wasn’t that hilarious when she decided to call me a “thankless prostitute” for leaving Ritchie after Gail died. I wasn’t sure where she got the prostitute part from but I wasn’t going to try to think about that now. These people weren’t my friends by a long shot, but I was still interested in leaving things off on a positive note, unlike the first time I left.

“Hey Bree, hey Lyssa, hey Steve,” I laughed as I fixed my hug-tousled hair and pulled Lukas inside. “Guys, this is Lukas.”

“Lukas,” Lyssa repeated, unblinking as she held out her hand to Lukas. “And you’re Lia’s… friend?”

“Boyfriend,” Lukas corrected casually. He grinned as everyone, Stephen included, turned to look at me in surprise.

“That’s too crazy,” Lyssa remarked after a bit of quiet, exchanging a look with Bree. “How crazy is that, Bree?”

“Not even over it yet.”

I smiled stiffly, oddly uncomfortable. After craning his neck to look out the window, Stephen stared at Lukas.

“Nice fucking car, man. You rich?”

“Stephen!” the girls scolded just as I heard several pairs of footsteps coming up from the basement. I felt Lukas’s hand slip back into mine as I saw an unfamiliar redhead in tiny ripped shorts. Following closely behind her was Ritchie.

Well, there he is. Looking exactly the same.

If I was surprised by anything, it was the fact that I felt not even the slightest pang of emotion as Ritchie’s eyes caught mine. Unlike the exterior of the house, my ex hadn’t changed. Not even a little. He still had the same shaggy, light brown hair that he had to keep pushing out of his face, and he still wore the same oversized Billabong T-shirt under a plaid red shirt. For the record, he didn’t surf or skate. He just loved that damned shirt.

“Hey…” he finally said, his eyes quickly leaving mine to stare at Lukas. “Who’s this guy?”

“Ritchie, this is Lukas,” I said. I felt Lukas squeeze my hand. “My boyfriend.”

Ritchie couldn’t contain his surprise. “No shit.”

“No shit,” Lukas and I repeated at once. Bree gasped.

“They already finish each other’s sentences!”

“No, Bree, that was just them saying the same – you know what, forget it,” Lyssa laughed dryly as Stephen jabbed his finger out the window.

“Yo, check out his car,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Guys,” I frowned, mortified when Ritchie actually went over the window to look at the Range Rover.

“I should be honest, it’s not mine. Borrowed from a friend,” Lukas laughed.

“Who’s your friend? Is he rich?” Bree whispered, as if whispering made her question less tacky.

“You don’t have to answer that,” I said to Lukas, exchanging a polite laugh with Bree, who polite laughed right back.

“Right. Well, uh, I have some food and stuff in the basement,” Ritchie said, taking one last look at the Rover before turning to me. “I figured we could all catch up there, hear about Lia’s new business and then I could give you the box and you could get going to see your dad.” He glanced at Lukas. “You can come too, I guess.”