Wellthatdoesn’t make any sense. Why would they break up if he wanted to get married so badly? Did Elli break up with him? Or did he break up with her? He’d be an idiot if he was the one who broke up with her.
“I’ve got to go meet Robs for coffee. I’ll see you at Matts.” I say as I clap him on the shoulder and make my way to the door.
He yells out, “I knew you liked her!” But I’m gone before I can reply.
Robin is already there with our drinks when I come sulking into the Toasted Bean. I get there just in time to see her almost knock over her own latte, spilling a bit on the table and mumbling under her breath. She perks up when she sees me.
“Date didn’t go well?” She gives me a curious look.
“It was fine.” I know that answer isn’t enough for her, she’s just going to keep asking me questions until she’s satisfied, so I figure I might as well save us both the time. “I told her about my mom and grandma. She asked about my tattoo, so I told her the meaning. I just didn’t mentionhowMom died.”
“No shit. What did she say?” Robin’s cup stops halfway to her mouth in surprise.
“She just said that she’s sure my mom and grandma would have thought it was beautiful.”
Robin’s eyebrows raise as if to say“and?”
“And…” I sigh. “That’s it. That’s all she said about it. She tried to apologize, thinking she overstepped, but I told her it was okay. She didn’t give me the usual ‘oh poor broken Wes’ pitying look people have when I tell them. She just looked…understanding? I don’t know. I toldher about wanting to be a musician, write songs, ya know? And she didn’t judge meat allfor it. I thought she was going to be this uptight, prissy snob, but she’s so selfless and kind, and actually funny when she lets herself go a little bit…”
“But?” Robin prompts, and I hate and love that she knows me so well sometimes.
“But Mormons have a lot of fucking rules that don’t make any goddamn sense. I could never meet the stupid standards that they have, thatshehas. I don’t even-”
“Pause. Did she actually tell you that?”
“Well, no, but-”
“Then you don’t know if you can’t meet them. It sounds like you might be trying to self-sabotage because you’re scared of getting hurt. You’re also making snap judgments about her, like people do to you.” Robin chides, giving me a smug look.
“I don’t like you.” I don’t like that she’s making sense. I don’t like that she’s probably right.
“You love me. Matt gave everyone the heads up that she would be there today. Maybe I can see where she stands?”
“No, just…” I run my hand over my face in exasperation. “Just get to know her. I think you and her could be really good friends. Sav too. If you don’t like her, fine, you don’t have to be friends with her, but don’t try to pry information out of her for my sake.”
Robin grabs my hand from across the table. “Okay. I’ll get to know her. But you shouldn’t count yourself out before you’ve even tried.”
I don’t know if I have it in me to try again, though.
Chapter 6
Elli
Ishould be unpacking a little before we go to the party, but instead, I find myself scrolling through Wes’s Instagram. His profile has mostly pictures of his guitar, some of which he’s in. He’s also got a few pictures of him and Luke.
He looksverygood holding a guitar. Who knew arms could be so sexy?
There are a lot of reels of him playing songs, covers and originals. He’s incredible. Better than I had even imagined. There are a few pictures of him and Luke with a bunch of other teenagers and people our age. In his tagged photos, he’s tagged a lot with a pretty redheaded girl.
He wouldn’t have come yesterday if he had a girlfriend, right?
Before I get too deep into a spiral, I decide to put my phone down and start unpacking the kitchen. Izzy comes out of the bathroom and stands across from me at the other side of the counter with her “spill the beans” look.
“Are you excited to meet Luke’s friends today?” I know the best way to avoid talking about myself is to distract her. Luckily, it works.
“I’m so excited! I’ve talked with some of them over FaceTime, but it will be nice to actually talk to them in person.” Her usual bright smile falters to a half frown. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
Izzy is one of the most social people I’ve ever met. Her bubbly personality and ability to talk to anyone about anything makes it easy for people to fall in love with her, and her generous heart helps keep people close. She has friends all the way in Rhode Island that she met at summer camp, that she still talks to on a weekly basis. The fact that she doubts herself makes my heart hurt.
