AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I thought it was really cool that a few professional athletes live here on the island, and I was hanging out with their significant others. Now, I just feel like a loser, thinking I could flirt with a guy who’s probably still in love with his ex, who probablyreallydoesn’t want anything to do with me now, after how badly I handled things tonight.
“No wonder he won’t make a move on me. Well, this fucking sucks.”
I shove Melanie’s phone back at her and grab the Styrofoam cup in front of me. My mouth opens and closes, bobbing around in the air a few times, until I finally find the straw and wrap my lips around it. I’m in the middle of taking a huge, slurping sip of nothing but the straight vodka that’s left at the bottom of my almost-empty cup, when Emily leans across the table and snatches it out of my mouth.
“How much did you guys give her to drink?” she asks the table.
“Mom might have overpoured.” Birdie nods, leaning forward and around Tess to reach over and pat my hand. “Ryan is definitely not still hung up on Emily; I can promise you that. And before it even gets inside that head of yours, she’s not hung up on him either.”
“Nope, definitely not,” Emily says with a shake of her head and giving me a kind, sympathetic smile that just makes me like her dumb, pretty face.
“I’m gonna guess that’s not really the problem right now, is it?” Wren asks from next to Emily on the other side of the table. “Because in case you don’t own a mirror, you’re hot. And you’re badass-hot, which is hotter than normal hot, because it means you’re confident and don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.”
“It’s science.” Tess nods next to me. “I, too, have been blessed with the same badass genes. It’s a daily struggle to look this good while also hating everyone.”
Fine. So I know I’m not exactly a troll. Whatever.
“I think I was too hard on him,” I whisper, finally admitting what’s really bothering me, wishing I could go back and do everything over. I wouldn’t have been so quick to get angry with him, when he was just trying to be a good friend to my dipshit brother, having no idea how corrupt and awful my family really is. “I told him not to choke on the lasagna I made before I left.”
“See? That was nice!” Wren tries to encourage me.
“Eh, he kind of deserved it.” Birdie shrugs. “He should have had this conversation with you from the very beginning, and then there wouldn’t have been any misunderstandings.”
“Pot, meet kettle.” Wren snorts, making Birdie glare at her sister.
“Palmer and I got there eventually. Shut up.”
“Or, I should have had the conversation withhim,” I say, ignoring the sisters and their stare-down with each other. “I just liked being with him and not bringing the mood down by talking about how truly shitty my family is. It’s embarrassing how long I put up with it, and I didn’t want him to think I was weak. I suck.”
Melanie clutches tightly to the back of my hoodie again, stopping my head from thunking on the table when I try to drop it forward once more.
“You don’t suck,” she scolds me. “Tonight was a lot. You had to talk about a lot of personal things that hurt, and that you maybe weren’t ready to talk about yet, with a guy you have a crush on. Even if you were a little hard on him, Ryan’s still a really good guy, and he’s going to understand why you’re upset.”
Everyone around the table nods eagerly in agreement, and it just makes me feel even worse, because I know they’re right. I was mean to a really good guy.
Laura comes out to the picnic table area then with a tray in her hands, putting new boozy slushes in front of everyone, except for a pregnant Wren.
“I hate all of you right now,” Wren mutters, looking at us with jealousy as we take a sip of our new drinks, and she’s stuck with the bottle of water Laura placed in front of her.
Before she goes back inside the stand, Laura pauses behind me and kisses the top of my head. “Everything’s gonna be okay. I promise. Sip and Bitch always fixes everything,” she whispers next to my ear. “But if you find yourself accidentally in the Summersweet pond after you leave here, just give me a call, and I’ll get you out in a jiffy.”
Realizing I’m a hell of a lot drunker than I thought when I understand nothing Laura says to me, Melanie finally lets go of the back of my hoodie, taking pity on me and letting me drop my head back to the table, when Laura walks away. Tess at least quickly shoves her hand under my face before it smacks against the surface, gently pulling it out from under my forehead once she’s made sure I don’t give myself a concussion.
The silence lasts for exactly ten seconds before everyone around me starts talking again.
“Can we discuss the ‘wanting to make out with him’ part now?”
“Yes! I’d like to know more about you wanting to do dirty things to our sweet Ryan.”
“Wait, you guys haven’t seen the kiss video? Holy shit, let me find it. Jennifer Burke sent it to Leanne Whiting, who sent it to me and told me not to show anyone. But, you know, this is Summersweet, and sharing is caring, bitches!”
“We’re going to need more slushes for this. Mom! Get a few more drinks on deck!”
“You should just walk in the door and get naked. That will show him you’re sorry for leaving and get him to make a move on you.”
“That will give him a heart attack. Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah, you’re probably going to need to take it slow. You’ll definitely have to make all the moves. He’s not exactly the aggressive type.”
“No one wants to hear about the shitty, boring sex you had with Ryan, Emily. That will just make her vomit.”
“I think she’s going to vomit tonight regardless.”
“Found it! Look at the way he grabs the back of her neck like he wants to devour her. Swoon!Ow!What the hell, Tess?”
“Never sayswoonout loud again unless you’re giving stage directions for a play. Jesus Christ, how am I even friends with you?”
“You want to watch it again, don’t you?”
“Almost more than I want to light your hair on fire. I retract my previous statement. Walk in the door and get naked.”
