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“It is,” Carla defended.
“Uh-huh.”
“So, anyway,” Keyton cut in. “Felix. What’s up there?”
“I don’t know,” I deadpanned. “You’re the one who gave him new ink. I bet you have a pretty good idea about things. He probably talked to you as openly as if you were his bartender and he was five beers in.”
“Well…” she hedged.
“Bet he didn’t tell you he’s diabetic. Which makes his system extra sensitive to being inked.”
She shook her head, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip and reminding me of a kid being admonished. “I just know—like everyone in town knows—that he’s like a lost puppy without you. His head is never with him, because it’s always focused on you. Even when you’re nowhere to be seen.”
“He’s a mess since you broke up with him,” Carla added.
“He cheated on me. At least…I was sure he did.”
“He did not!” Keyton exclaimed in shock. A chair scraped, and we all looked over to see Wade half out of his seat. Keyton made wide eyes at him, silently telling him not to come over. His narrowed in return, something I didn’t want to examine entering the stare.
“Let’s not make the guys come over, okay?” I reached for a chip and dipped it into the queso.
“So you’re saying that guy who’s been shadowing you like a half-ass stalker for six months cheated on you? I don’t believe it,” Carla scoffed.
“I thought he did, but now I’m not so sure. There’s this girl, AnnMarie, we went to school with. You guys probably don’t know her, since you’re new to Sizzle Beach.” They were also a couple years older than me. “She’s…you know. One of those perfect girls. Cheerleader, popular, good student, all the guys wanted her, all the girls wanted to be her. It’s so cliché, but totally the truth. Except…there was the darker side. The rumors about her stealing boyfriends and going through guys like tissue paper.”
I shrugged, hating that I felt like a nasty gossip.
“I never really believed that. I just thought… Even a couple years after high school, I believed people were being mean. Until I saw her with my boyfriend. I was on my way to my shift when I saw them walking out of Joe’s together.”
“They could have just been leaving at the same time,” Carla suggested. “People grab their coffees to-go all the time.”
“And then she called him while I was at his place. He didn’t know I saw the screen, and he said he needed to step into the other room to talk about a work problem with one of the guys. He’s a horrible liar, so even if I hadn’t seen the display, I would have known.”
Key’s face pinched, and I knew she was trying to think of an explanation. No one wanted to think ill of him. Everyone in town just thought we had a fight we could get over. Team Breelix and all that.
I held up a hand to stall anything from either of my friends. “Then the next day, I decided to surprise him with breakfast, since it was my day off. I parked on the street. Just in time to see them walk out to his truck and drive off together.”
Carla lifted her hand to wave over the waitress. “We’re gonna need another round of margaritas ASAP. And that huge deep-fried platter of comfort food appetizer thing.”
“You guys have rides. I don’t have a designated driver,” I laughed.
“Wade will make sure we get you home safely,” Key assured me. “He’s like that. Bossy and all.”
I raised an eyebrow, appreciating the reprieve from my problems. “You guys are good?”
She sighed happily, seeming lighter than I’d seen her in all the time I’d known her. “So good. That man—”
“La la la la la!” I yelled putting my hands over my ears.
She and Carla laughed. I reached for another chip, thinking I’d deflected the attention. I was wrong. Very wrong.
“So you said…you thought he cheated. When you said that, you sounded like you might not be so sure now,” Carla said.
“He says he didn’t, but he won’t tell me why he was with her. Says it’s not his secret to tell. He’s never been able to lie to me, but I don’t want to be that stupid girl. The one everyone shakes their head at because she’s so gullible.”
She tilted her head. “But… Maybe you need to worry about what you think and not what other people think. If you believe him, that’s all that matters. There might be a side to things you don’t know. Don’t let assumptions drive a wedge between you guys if you really love him. God knows, I did that because I believed something I shouldn’t have. I could have missed out on what Jake and I have now.”
I gave a half smile. “It is pretty great. There’s more, though. Totally me, not him. We’ve been together—were together anyway—since junior high. Can you even believe that? And sometimes, it kind of scares me.”
