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“That’s enough!” Redix’s shout shakes the room, his frantic eyes staring me down.
“Did you tell her about our ice cream date?” My voice thunders, too, turning to confront him. “Or how you followed me into the parking lot last night? How you said you wanted me again? Shall I tell her how hard you did?”
Angie gasps.
Mama starts drumming her fingernails on the glass table. “Alright, you two,” she says. “If I want a soap opera, I’ll turn on my TV.”
Breath huffs from Redix’s chest. I see it along with his flared nostrils.
They match mine.
“Sorry, Mama.” I glance at her. I mean it. “And I’m sorry, Elise.” I catch her eyes next. “I’m sorry that y’all have been caught between us for so long. But don’t worry”—I pick up my boot, sock, and backpack from the floor—“there’s no ‘us’ anymore.”
I have to say it. I have to look him in the eye.
“And I wish like hell there never was.” To make him hurt like I do.
I limp across my mama’s foyer, my wounded ego following me out the door.
Destroyed hearts don’t say goodbye.
CHAPTER SEVEN
April is my favorite month.
Its warming breeze eases through my wet hair, calming me down. That and the Lemonheads I crunch while sitting on my balcony, letting the night ocean soothe my rage. The shower I took helped, too; anything to wash this horrible day away.
I shouldn’t have lost it like that at Mama.
It’s been hard on her, on Redix’s mom too. They know how much we loved each other.
Redix’s mom, Elise, was the sweetest about it. She never mocked us.
“Love is real at any age,” she said. “So are broken hearts. You two just need to be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
We got more than hurt.
The worst part is that our moms don’t know just how bad. I stare at the inky waves, hoping they never find out.
That wish traps my gaze until a sudden knock on my door startles me.
Mama should be asleep. But nope. She’s here to give me an earful for my rude outburst, and I deserve it.
I shuffle to the front door in my smiley-face hipster panties and tank. An ironic purchase, I know.
“Alright,”—I flip the lock and turn the doorknob—“lemme have it.” I swing the door open without checking the peephole…
And huff at the sight.
“Why do shitty days turn into diarrhea with you around?”
Redix stands there, glaring down at me, ready to wage another war.
But his eyes dart down to my panties and start fondling up my body, tickling over my happy breasts before they land on my pissed-off face.
“At least part of you’s happy seeing me.” His eyes fall back to my breasts. They’re well aware he’s feet away. “I bet I know what else is smiling for me too.”
That sexy hair knot he’s wearing makes me wanna yank it and use it like a steering wheel, traveling his mouth down to where, yes, I’m smiling.
