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Chapter 24
Ryan
“Who’s soft and weak now, asshole?”
“Oh, this isjust pathetic.”
I don’t even bother looking up at Spencer when he uses his spare key to let himself in. Or move from where I’ve been curled up on my side on the couch since last night, staring at the screen of my phone I have propped up against a jar candle on my coffee table. I’ve seen his texts flash across my screen, and I’ve ignored three of his calls, so I knew it would only be a matter of time before he showed up here.
“Are you seriously cuddling a stuffed animal right now?”
Spencer leans over the back of the couch, and I pull the stuffed dog away from my chest, blindly flinging my arm back in his direction.
“Can you put him in the microwave for forty-five seconds? He got cold again.”
Spencer snatches the dog out of my hand and chucks it across the room. As soon as it smacks against the far wall and slides down into a heap on the floor, I quickly sit up and glare at him as he walks around to the front of the couch.
“Heeey! That’s my boo-boo dog from Dottie! It’s taking the pain in my heart away.”
“Doesn’t look like it’s working. Have you even showered at all today?”
Looking down at myself, I realize I’m still wearing yesterday’s clothes. The ones I put on after Danny and I showered. The ones I wore to that horrible, awful dinner. And the ones I was wearing when she walked away from me, like I always knew she would. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. I definitely knew it would hurt this much.
“I’m sorry, butwhat the fuck, Ryan?” Spencer shouts, making my body jolt as he stands in front of me with his arms crossed. “I know being with Danny finally gave you some balls, but did she take them with her when she left?”
As soon as he reminds me that she’s gone, all I can do is put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. By the time I got home from the bowling alley, she was gone. Every piece of her removed from this house. All of her painting supplies gone from the garage, and all of her clothing and shoes gone from my bedroom, where they had migrated from the spare bedroom over the last few weeks. I spent too long just sitting there in my seat at the alley, staring in shock at the mural after she ripped the fabric down and walked out. Long enough for Danny to disappear from my home and my life, like she was never even here.
That mural was beautiful, wild, and amazing, just like her, and I’ve done nothing but stare at the picture of it Spencer took and sent to me since I walked in the door last night. The only thing she left behind was a note on the kitchen island that said,Good news. Stephanie from Sandbar Cottages called, and she finally has a place for me. You won’t have to worry about my bad influence any longer.
I could hear the anger and hurt in her voice just looking at her quickly scribbled note, and I’d never felt like more of a jerk in my life.
“What happened to the guy who shut down Summersweet Lane and danced in the rain?”
“That caused a lot of traffic violationsandcreated a scene,” I mutter with my head still in my hands.
“Bullshit.” Spencer scoffs. “Dottie said she’s been fielding phone calls at city hall left and right from tourists about that night, talking her ear off about how magical the island is. They all think it’s something that happens here all the time, like the parades at Disney World. Try again.”
“I told Chad Samuels off. That was out of line.” I indeed try again, but my voice is as weak as my argument, and Spencer knows it.
“You mean the guy who suddenly has a shit-ton of respect for you and has been kissing your ass at school since it happened? Eric Washington even brought your bowling team lunch from Chipotle after you guys won that last match and had the entire lunch room chanting for them. Next,” Spencer orders.
“My dad—”
“Nope,” Spencer cuts me off. “I’m not even going to let you finishthatridiculous excuse. You haven’t even spoken to him about you not wanting to be mayor, or about you and Danny. And don’t even bother bringing up the kickass tattoo you got,orthe indecent exposure fine, because no man in their right mind ever complains about getting a blowjob from a sexy woman, no matter where or when it happens. Seriously, dude, where are your balls, and what are you actually so afraid of right now?”
Letting out a sigh, I finally drop my hands from my face and look up at him. “That it’s not the same for her as it is for me. Which is obvious, since she left.”
Spencer just shakes his head at me. “I say this with nothing but love. You are the most idiotic smart person I have ever met.”
Before I can defend myself, Spencer turns and grabs my phone off the coffee table.
“Did you even look at the mural she painted?”
“That’s all I’vebeendoing, thank you very much,” I mutter.
Spencer flops down on the couch next to me, moving his hand and my phone into my line of vision, and my heart hurts all over again, looking at the picture he took that I’ve already memorized every detail of.
A colorful bowling alley lane has been graffitied on the entire wall, with a red bowling ball smacking into the center of the pins, looking very similar to the tattoo on the back of my shoulder. And down in front of the lane is a huge silhouette of a couple kissing. The woman is holding one of her arms out to the side, and there’s a pizza box in her hand, with the wordsLucky Strikepainted above their heads. It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and the fact that she put the two of us and that day of our first kiss on the wall of the bowling alley makes my heart soar—and confuses me even more than I already am.
