Page 89 of This Changes Everything

“I’m almost uncomfortable with how comfortable I feel. It’s weird, don’t you think? How normal this is?”

“It feels pretty normal,” Rory said, squeezing my hand.

“It’s been years, and so much has happened, and I don’t know you at all anymore, but it still feels like I know you.”

“You’ve said that twice now.” Rory shook his head. “Ellie, you know me. We could go a lifetime without seeing each other, and you’d still know me. We were figuring each other out at the same time as we were figuring ourselves out. Because of that alone, you know me in a way that nobody else does or ever will.”

I looked at Rory and could feel every point of contact my body was experiencing. I could feel his eyes on me. I could feel his hand wrapped around mine, and his thumb stroking my skin. I could feel the water lapping over us, and the tension in my legs as my feet pressed into the lounger. I could feel the tightness of his hat wrapping around my head and across my forehead. I could feel my wet hair sticking to my shoulders and the sweat forming in the back of my neck. It wasn’t the blazing sun burning me up; I was ignited from the inside.

My phone dinged from the small table next to us that was holding our drinks. I tore myself away from staring at Rory and leaned over to find my screen lit up with a text.

CRAIG SINICKI: How’s Vegas? You at a pool right now? Cuz I’m over here thinking about how wet you are.

A sharp, stabbing pain ripped across my muscles. I dropped Rory’s hand and clicked off my phone screen as fast as I could.

“All good over there?” Rory shifted his sunglasses to the sky.

“Sorry . . . Work stuff,” I said, attempting to slow down my heart rate.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just . . . Um—yeah. I’ve got some weird . . . No, I mean, it’s fine.” I pressed my lips together.

“You’re really convincing me over here,” he said sarcastically. “Do you need to go do something?”

“No. All good.” I knew he didn’t believe me, so I decided to change the subject. “So, are you thinking about coming out tonight, or was joining us here your plan since you didn’t get any sleep?”

“I’m coming tonight. Orson, too. Is that still okay?” Rory reached over to his drink and took a sip.

I put my hands back into the water, hoping Rory would slide his fingers through mine again. I looked over at Zoë dancing in the VIP area. Her back was against Orson, and she was pushing her ass into his crotch.

“I don’t think Zoë will be bothered.” I laughed. “Did Orson come to Vegas to piggyback off you for a free trip, like a sneaky little devil?”

“He’s my caddie. We travel a lot together.”

“He is? That’s amazing!” I shook my head. “I’m surprised I didn’t realize that. I’ve been following you over the years, and I can’t believe I didn’t notice Orson there, too.”

“Following me?” Rory smiled, and his head cocked to the side.

“You know what I mean. I’ve seen you on TV and online and all that. Plus, you’re my dad’s favorite topic. I didn’t bury my head in the sand after we stopped talking.” Avoidance was my usual go-to when anything in my life went awry, but I just couldn’t do it with Rory. Not after Juniper and Albert Davis. Not again.

“Oh, I definitely did,” Rory admitted with a laugh.

“Really?” My heart lurched.

“You were with Ben Winters. Every time I saw his face on TV, I wanted to stab myself in the eye. I saw him on one of the late-night shows. It was awful.”

“Says you, my friend,” I said, remembering how quietly jealous Ben would get over Rory. He never vocalized it, but he would always touch his face and start sighing when Rory came up in conversation or popped up on our TV.

Rory looked back over at me. “So, what happened there?”

“With Ben? Long distance. Things change. Life moves on. He’s still a great guy, obviously. But yeah, kind of a lot happened there . . .”

“When did you break up?”

“After I moved to LA.”

“Wait.” Rory took off his sunglasses and put them in his lap. “Were you broken up when you came to the funeral?”