AllFreeNovel
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“You really don’t know, do you?”
Settling back into my previous position of permanent couch potato, I work to balance the bowl of chips on one thigh and a container of trail mix on the other. I do an inner cheer when I’m triumphant. My outer smirk triggers an eye roll from the woman I’d all but forgotten was still here.
“Congratulations! Was that the goal for the day? Let me get a picture of this. I’m sure you’ll want it for your wall or something.”
She’s being sarcastic. I know she is. There’s nothing about her tone that says she’s serious. Regardless, I carefully extract my phone from between the pillows where I’d stuffed it earlier then hand it to her.
“Thanks. That’d be great.”
The look of absolute annoyance is priceless. Still, she takes the phone from me.
“That explains why you didn’t answer the phone when I called or texted. Jackass.”
“Thank you.”
She freezes then cuts her eyes at me. For a second, I think she’s going to chuck the thing back at me. She doesn’t. Nope. Hope snaps a photo or two of me looking like the greatest form of slug ever. I’m loving the vibe. I should. I plan for it to be my standard state for as long as possible. When she turns the screen to face me, I wonder what she’s about to do.
Hope doesn’t make me wait for long. She tilts her head like she’s going to take one of those standard selfies then sticks her tongue out. Once her middle finger is lifted and touching her lip, she snaps the photo. She takes a couple more before returning my phone to me.
“You know I’m going to make that my screensaver.”
“Great.”
“I’m also making that your contact photo.”
“Even better. Still a jackass.”
I chuckle.
“You can continue calling me that and I’m just going to thank you for it. It’s like you’re tickling me with your words when you say it.”
She turns to face me. Her blonde hair has more of the lighter highlights she told once she likes to have when she’s feeling good. It’s also a lot longer than she usually keeps it. The curls are tumbling close to her ass. It reminds me of when we first met. That seems so long ago. Yet another thing I can’t believe. I’ve been good friends with a female for well over ten years and we’ve never slept together.
Hope gives me a quizzical look when I smile in her direction.
“What? Why do you have that weird look on your face?”
I shake my head then reach in the bowl to toss a pretzel in the air. I’m lining up to catch it when she reaches out and snags it out of the air.
“Killjoy. That would’ve been perfect.”
She turns away from me. Hope tries to use the curtain of her hair as a veil to keep me from seeing what she does, but I notice her wiping under her eyes. She feels me sit up.
“It’s fine. I’m good. Just give me a sec.”
Shifting the snacks off my legs, I set them on the table in front of me. I turn to face her.
“Bet you didn’t think you’d be the one who needed a ‘check in’ when you came over here to rescue me from myself, did you?”
I hear her snort laugh before she turns to me. She slaps my leg but there’s no real power behind it. Her head lands on my shoulders seconds later as she allows herself to cry. It doesn’t happen often. When it does, it’s beyond time. I hold her as she lets herself feel whatever it is she’s feeling right now.
“Some days are harder than others. I still can’t believe it’s been a year. I have these moments when I think he’s going to pull up, gun the engine, and ...”
“Hit the horn three times. Yeah. It was our signal when we were younger. It was our way of telling the other the coast was clear.”
“Really? He never told me where it came from. It was just his way of letting us know he was home. Jake would go racing out the door the instant he heard the first blare of the horn. He always knew when it was his dad. Your mother tried it once a few months ago and Jakob just burst into tears. I couldn’t even console him. I was a sobbing mess myself.”
“Yep. I asked Jake if he wanted to go to the track with me a few months ago. He told me he didn’t want to go yet. ‘It’s too soon’.”
