Page 51 of Only Be Mine

I stared down at the floor. I didn’t really want to get into it, not with him anyway.

“Come on,” he prodded. “You can tell me. I promise I’m too drunk to remember it tomorrow.”

I exhaled shakily and told him everything, because I was tired, because I needed to say it out loud, because part of me still believed honesty would save me.

“I thought… I thought when I came back, he’d be waiting.”

“He didn’t ignore you on purpose,” Trevor said. “That’s on me. I brought the beer.”

I nodded, because blaming him felt easier than admitting how much it hurt.

“Maybe write him a note,” he suggested. “Ask him to meet you somewhere private once he’s had a chance to sober up a little.”

That made sense.

It felt safer, easier than keeping everything bottled up inside.

I hugged him quickly, too quickly, and pulled away before he could read more into it.

I tried to ignore the drunken stupor coming from the living room as I made my way to the kitchen, but it was hard. Seth was lying on the floor, and they were all laughing like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. I shook my head.

I rummaged through the kitchen drawers until I found a notepad and a pen. I stared at the blank sheet of paper until finally settling on short and sweet. I asked him to meet me at my thinking spot at sunset.

I folded the sheet in half, added his name to it, and made my way back to the living room. As I reached the table, John reached out and scooped up a pile of cards.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. “Hey, can we talk for a second?”

He leaned back and kissed me on the cheek. “Can it wait just a minute? I’m about to win.”

The other guys at the table started to laugh.

“Please,” I asked. “This is important.”

“Anyone need another beer?" Jim asked.

Seth, still lying splayed across the floor, raised a hand in the air, “I’ll take one!”

“Bar’s closed, gentlemen,” Trevor said, eyeing me sympathetically.

John shuffled the cards and slammed them onto the table. “Just a minute,” he said, giving my hand a quick squeeze. “Deal, man.” He then said to no one in particular. “I need to win my money back.”

Seth let out a few more shaky laughs before pushing up from the floor and taking his seat. He scooped up the cards. “Jim, you in?”

“Yeah, I’m in.”

“What about you, Trev?" Seth asked.

Trevor shook his head. “I’m gonna sit this one out.”

“You snooze you lose!" John said. He slapped the table, hard enough to make it shake. “Come on, let’s go!”

I looked at the note, still clenched in my hand, and decided to slide it underneath his nearly empty beer. There was no way he’d miss it there.

I slid on a new pair of shoes and headed out to my spot and waited.

The waiting was agony.

When someone touched my shoulder in the dark, relief flooded me so fast I didn’t question it.