AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Pretty great. I’ll send you a link, and you can tell me how great I sound.”
I laugh. “I can’t wait to get home. I actually miss you, as strange and unbelievable as that may sound.”
“Ha-ha. Bre, you deserve to be happy. Just remember that.”
After we end the call, I lie staring at the ceiling for what feels like hours, thinking, not thinking, formulating words to say, and rethinking them. “I’m sorry, Anna,” I say and feel the tears slip down the side of my face.
I walk down to the beach, climbing up the lifeguard tower. Anna and I loved sitting up here. We could see so much further out to sea than we did on the ground. At night we’d watch the reflection of the sapphire moon, talking about all the things we were going to do with our lives.
He climbs up the tower and sits next to me. His eyes land on the bottle of whiskey. “You okay?”
I want to look at him, but I can’t. I just keep staring at the ocean, willing my friend to materialize so that I can apologize for what a bitch I was to her. I take a large sip of the whiskey and love the burn of it.
“We were so selfish, you know, not bothering about what our needs could do to Anna, Justin, Nate even.” I sigh. “I know it’s all over now, we’re both free, and we can be together, but those ugly truths will always claw at us.”
I let him pull me into his lap and kiss my forehead. “Baby, the truth is that I love you, and if you can hold onto that, we’ll get through all of it.”
“But they’ll hate me, Denton, Anna’s parents. My mother is already pretty disappointed in me.”
“They’ll be shocked, yeah. But we don’t have to tell them anything we don't want to.”
“Keep our dirty little lie, you mean?” I sniff.
“No, fuck, Bre. That isn’t what we are or what we were.”
“Yes, Denton. Thatiswhat we are.” I rest my head on his chest. “Or maybe a pretty lie, about the ugly truth.”
I grin at that. “You are the prettiest of all lies, Brianna.”
“Hey, Duke.”
“Yeah?”
“You would have been the greatest dad to our baby.” I whisper.
“I wish I could have been there with you, hold you through it all. I hated the fact that I couldn’t.” He exhales, and his grip on me tightens.
I remember his red-rimmed eyes, and the relief on his face when I woke up. I remember how he’d clenched his fists when the nurses came to talk to Nate and me about cremating our baby. I remember all the things he might not.
“You were there. Right here,” I take his hand and place it on my heart.
I let him hold me, and I closed my eyes.You are my happy place, Duke.
24
Denton
“You snore a little when you sleep,” I move dark strands of hair from her face.
“I do not,” she yawns.
“Yes, you do, and I like it. I think it’s cute.”
She opens her eyes. “Denton, that is not cute. It is unladylike, and I hate that you told me about it.”
“Oh, you’re all lady when you need to be, baby, but I like when you’re not.”
She grins, snuggling against her pillow.
