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“I have no freaking idea.” The news vans had come and gone. They had my side of the story. I could only sit back and hope things would improve by morning.
The problem was that sitting back and waiting was not my favorite thing to do.
“You want to go out to eat?” Jack asked. It was his and Holly’s last night in town. In the morning, the plan was to get breakfast at Carly’s and then they’d be on their way up to the airport to fly back to Germany.
“Sure,” I replied, knowing that if I didn’t go with them, I’d end up staring out the window all night, willing the protesters to go home and never come back.
Jack got up from the table and clapped me on the shoulder on his way out of the kitchen. “You treating tonight, Player?”
I laughed. “First round’s on me.”
Holly gave a little whoop and we headed out to Harvey’s Bar and Grill, the best place to get a burger, beer, and chill.
Which is exactly what we all did.
“So, Aaron, what’s up with you and Gemma?” Holly asked, once we were all seated, and halfway through the first pitcher of beer we’d ordered up. She gave me a wide smile.
“Damn, Boomer, I didn’t think anyone could give you a run for your money in the stubborn department, but you really met your match here, haven’t you?”
Holly laughed. “Like you should talk!”
I held up my hands. “All right, all right. Fair enough.”
“So…” she prompted.
Jack laughed and wrapped an arm around her. “She’s not gonna let it go.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to say. Is she hot? Sure! That’s about as much as I know. She’s a cool chick.”
“Cool chick?” Holly wrinkled her nose.
I laughed and dropped my head back, reveling in the easy, carefree atmosphere between the three of us. There was a band on stage, playing some unfamiliar—but pleasant—tunes, and it was packed with people who provided a backdrop of white noise with their chatter and laughter. After the stressful day spent in the confines of the empty museum, it was the break I needed.
“Holls, I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m not like you and Boomer here. I’m not gonna fall head over heels for some woman I just met.”
Holly didn’t look convinced. “So, what? You bang her and that’s it?”
I choked on my sip of beer, surprised by her blunt question. Jack laughed, obviously content to sit back and watch the show. “Damn, girl. You trying to kill me? I’ve done enough of that recently.”
As soon as the joke left my mouth, the mood shifted, and I regretted the throwaway comment.
Jack sucked the foam from his second glass, and Holly dropped her gaze to the pile of fries in the middle of the table. She picked one up and dragged it through the puddle of ketchup on the side of the tray.
“You know what I mean,” I added, hoping to lift the tension.
Holly brought her eyes back to mine. “Have you ever been in love? I mean, I get it, you’re “The Player” and all that, but has it always been that way?”
I grimaced. This was turning into a not-so-fun conversation.
“You know what, never mind, I overstepped,” Holly said, assessing the expression on my face.
“No, no. It’s fine.” I pushed my good hand through my hair. “Yeah, I was, once. I think.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot high.
I flicked the tip of my tongue over my lips, trying to sort out how to unpack the whole story. I hadn’t told anyone about Kimber, not even Jack. “It was back in high school, so I don’t know if it even counts, but there was this girl, her name was Kimber Westlake. We went to school together. She was a cheerleader, straight A’s, volunteered at a dog shelter on the weekends. I mean, she was practically an angel.”
Holly smiled, but her eyes were boring into mine, hanging on my every word.
“Anyway, she was all wrong for me. Or, more accurately, I was all wrong for her. Everyone knew it. Everyone told her to leave me alone, that I was trouble, came from the wrong side of the tracks, whatever. But, I don’t know, there was something about her. I couldn’t get my mind off of her, and when the chance came to spend more time with her, I took it.
See, I was failing my American Lit class and was in danger of not graduating. I knew my father would kick my ass if I got held back and couldn’t join up on schedule. Hell, I woulda kicked my own ass. So I asked Kimber to help me. She was the smartest girl in my class and she’d always been nice to me. By some miracle, she agreed, and we spent every afternoon together for an hour in the library. I don’t know who fell for who first, but over the course of a couple of months, we did. After that, we couldn’t get enough of each other. We snuck out to movies, made out in the janitor’s closet, went for long drives, stayed out way too late, drank too much, and fell in love. It was unlike anything I’d ever had before.”
