“Ah well, that, my dear, is simple. The answer’s a dick.”
I stick my head out of the closet to see Bridget’s lips curved upward. “Was that a joke?”
“I make one once a century or so.”
“I like Joking Bridget,” I say, handing her a white blouse nearly identical to the one Grady destroyed with his pumpkin. His pouting puppy dog face still pulls on my heartstrings. “Hey, when we go out there, can you do me a favor and try to take it easy on Grady? I know he suffers from Resting Bro Face, but he’s secretly a giant softie.”
“He spilled a gallon of beer and pumpkin guts on me.”
“Yes, and I recognize that was a giant misstep on his part, but I think he might have done it because he was stunned by you. I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re freaking hot in that costume.”
Bridget snorts. “Oh yeah, like a professional hockey player with rock-hard abs would like a small-town Janeite like me. Now that’s realistic.” Bridget reaches for the door and winces. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—you and Jack are different—you’re sweet and funny, and warm, and anyone would be lucky—”
“Bridget, it’s totally fine.” I hold up my hands to stop her. “We should get back.” I motion to the door.
And it is fine. Bridget’s not saying something I haven’t already been thinking. That joke hasn’t quieted since Jack first kissed me on my birthday. But if I’d listened to it, I’d have missed all the quiet, special moments Jack and I have had in the past two weeks. All the tiny smiles reserved for me. The sweet phrases he’s uttered against my ear. The feel of his palm on my arm as we sleep at night, like he just needs to make sure I’m there. They way he always looks like he’s the one in pain when I wince. They’re all moments I’m going to hug tight to my chest and take with me to the grave.
All I can do is keep living in the now and hope that my shattered heart won’t be the punchline someday.
ChapterThirty-Four
Jack Parker
Play:Tighten Up by the Black Keys
“Okay, so why are you here?” I ask Grady, leaning against a tree illuminated in the night sky. Aulie is sitting outside near the crackling fire, on the couch, which Gus and I took out of the basement earlier. She reclines with her legs elevated on a fluffy pillow, surrounded by the fair crew—none the wiser that I’ve sworn them all to secrecy about how stressful everything is at the fair without her. The last thing she needs is to feel guilty about taking the time she needs to rest. Lucas, donning frosted spikes and a silver jacket, chuckles, and I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy that he’s seated beside her while I’m stuck with George of the Pumpkin Bungle.
In the past two weeks, Aulie’s grinned softly often, but tonight, she’s wearing her soul-crushing smile. The one that I’ve come close to dropping to my knees and begging for so many times this year.
Given the circumstances, the death, and the illness, the stars in her eyes shine with an extra defiance tonight.
With my head tipped back, I drink my beer and wait for Grady’s response. It won’t come. He’s equally distracted with the woman to Aulie’s right in a fold up chair. Of course, a woman dressed as Evelyn would be his undoing.
Grady andThe Mummy?
Brendan Fraser?
That’s his jam.
With his easily excitable rom-com brain, it doesn’t help that he’s dressed like another Brendan Fraser character.
I should tell him entertaining his infatuation will only lead to his destruction. Bridget would kill him in his sleep if he ever tried to make a move—or maybe she’d do it while he was awake. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good way to go for the man.
“Grady—” I poke him.
He blinks. “Sorry, what did you ask?”
“Why are you here?”
“Oh. Gus invited me.”
“Mmhmm, and small-town bonfires are your things, so obviously, you had to drive the two and a half hours up here.”
He sighs. “Coach is worried that your time away has made you soft and wants you to return early. He was hoping I could talk you into returning tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? What? Aulie’s a good week from being able to care for herself, and I have eight days left on my suspension. Hell no, I’m not giving her up early.
I know that’s not the right reaction to Coach asking me to do my job. The team is my career. It’s my priority.
