AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Regardless, it was June.”
“Well, we weren’t here for my birthday. We were here for my graduation.”
I felt him turn his head toward me and this time, I did look at him. His grin was wide as he shook his head. “Always gotta argue. Fine. We were here for your graduation.”
“And maybe also because you guys won the NCAA championship. In Omaha, Nebraska.” I only added the location because I liked to say it.
Oh-ma-hawww.
I smiled and looked back to the water.
“That was a good summer.”
I nodded in agreement. It had been a good summer. I’d been excited to get into my program at the same college Ryan went to. I had so many plans for those next four years...
I tipped my head to the side as I thought about those plans again, and how it had been a struggle, but I met them. I got my fancy English degree, the one that proved that I was smart and that I could read and the words didn’t necessarily jumble when I was focused and not stressed.
The trouble with fancy English degrees though is that they don’t always open up a world of possibilities. Not like, say, an accounting degree.
Or something more practical, like a Bachelors in Nursing.
Speaking of nursing...
“Are you even going to have a place to go back to, when you decide to go back to San Diego?” I looked at him after I posed the question, and he turned his head, frowning.
“Why wouldn’t I? Mitch didn’t say anything about subleasing or whatever. I told him I’d be back. Our lease is up next month anyway, so we talked about if the need arose, I’d just not resign the new lease.”
After undergrad and baseball, Mitch went on to start medical school and was now a resident at the local teaching hospital. His current unit rotation—from what I gathered on the Facebook, because I really didn’t talk to him much without Ryan around—was in an intensive care unit.
If things ended up going in the direction that was predicted...
“I was just thinking about Mitch, and the virus, and all the isolation stuff. That’s all.”
“Eh. Worst case scenario, I’ll just bunker down with you.”
He clearly didn’t think there’d be an issue with that.
But there clearly was an issue with that.
“I’m cool with sharing a bed with you this weekend, but I don’t have room for you in my apartment.”
“I’ll take the couch.”
“You know damn well it’s a cheap Ikea model.”
He grimaced. “Yeah. That was a bitch to put together.” There was nothing quite as fun—sarcasm—as finding way too many extra pieces after putting a piece of furniture together, and going back to be sure everything was put together correctly.
“Maybe Bella...” I still couldn’t believe he lost the show! Surely, there was some dramatic twist that would make ratings soar, and then at the reunion show, Ryan would realize his errors.
“We are not talking about Bella,” he interrupted. “At least, not until you answer my other questions.”
“Ugh.”
“Yeah. Ugh is right,” he teased, and I had a really hard time ever holding a mad when he teased.
Sighing, I stood and said, “Well. I was just worried about you and needed to know where you were. I’m going to head back up.”
“I’ll go with you. I’m good now.”
