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“I’ve watched Rebecca transform from a young girl into the amazing woman that she is today, running her own business, all while taking care of her family, and I can only be proud of all the things she’s accomplished.”
“Not that. I meant the other part.”
A frown appears between Mom’s brows. “What other part?”
“What do you mean you don’t know what happened?”
“How would I know?” Mom shrugs, placing her stuff in the cart. “You barely answered my calls back then, claiming you were too busy with school and football.”
She gives me her who-do-you-think-you-are-fooling look as she turns around and starts walking again.
Cursing silently, I follow after her. “I told you we broke up.”
Everything after Rebecca and I broke up was kind of a blur. I was pissed at her for doing what she did, so I decided to drown my sorrows in drinking and partying. God knows how long I’d have kept up with it, too, if my Coach hadn’t sat me down one day and threatened to bench my ass if I didn’t get my life in order.
“Weeksafter the event. Looking back, I remember seeing Becky around town. She was like a walking, talking ghost. There, but completely empty and lifeless. Sad. I tried talking to her, but she’d just brushed me off, saying she was busy. She didn’t even bring it up until you told me, and I asked what happened, and even then, she just avoided answering. Said things didn’t work out. Not once did that girl say anything mean about you or what had happened. I’m not even the only one who had asked, I’m sure. You know how nosy people in this town can be. If people had asked me when you’d be back, I’m sure they did the same with her, knowing you guys were dating, but I haven’t heard a peep of what caused the rift between you two.”
I lift my hand, rubbing at the middle of my chest, where I can feel an unfamiliar tightening.
I didn’t know what to do with this whole situation. I thought Rebecca had told them what happened, and that was the reason why I was getting the side eye from the people of Bluebonnet. And now that I knew that wasn’t the case, I didn’t know what to do about it.
Nothing, there is nothing that you should do.
A flash of red in my peripheral vision catches my attention. Almost on instinct, my gaze follows until it lands on her.
Rebecca is standing in the checkout line, pulling out the things from her basket, and that damn jab inside my chest only grows stronger, more insistent.
“You didn’t seem surprised to see her,” Mom’s comment brings me out of my thoughts, so I force myself to look away. I didn’t have to give her any more ammunition than she already had. Or, based on the glint in her irises, any ideas.
“I saw her already.”
“At The Hut?”
Of course, she would have heard I went to the bar. There was no way that little tidbit wouldn’t find its way to my family.
“Yes, at The Hut.”
Among other places.
Because she was everywhere, and there was no escaping her. Not as long as I was in this town.
Mom harrumphs. “Well, you better be careful of what you’re doing.”
“Me?”
“Yes,you.” Mom jabs me in the chest. “She might have kept quiet about what had happened between you two, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. I saw that girl in the aftermath of your breakup, and she was devastated.”
Seriously? My mom too?
My fingers curl around the bar of the cart so hard my knuckles have drained of color. “So it’s immediately my fault?”
“I’m not saying it’s your fault or hers. I know better than that. Relationships take two people, and so does the breakup.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she jabs me once again. “You might be all grown up, Miguel Fernandez, but some things never change. Whatever you do, don’t go breaking that girl’s heart once again.”
Great, even my own mother was against me.
“Shouldn’t you be worried about my heart?”
