“So what happened?” Gavin says it measured as if he knows.
“She’s ashamed of him.” Neva’s voice surprises me from the porch. Shit. I didn’t notice her lounging on the bench, and now I’m sorry I ever came home.
“We’re just friends,” I say. “Get it straight.”
“I don’t think you’re just friends.” She sits up and leans over the railing. “I think you’re nothing but her little bitch.”
“Fuck you.” I tuck the canoe under the house and kick the shit out of the tail for sticking out.
“My”—Neva muses—“temper, temper.” She purrs like a cat. “What do you think Warren would do if he ever found out?”
“He’s not finding out because there’s nothing to find out.” I glare at her a moment. “We’re just friends, Neva. Get it through your skull and forget the rest.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Gavin jumps in his truck and revs the engine.
“It’s not right what she’s doing to you.” The whites of her eyes magnify. “Warren has the right to know his girlfriend is a cheat.”
“They’re not together.” I shake my head because a part of me is starting to think they might be.
“Bullshit,” Neva seethes. “Warren says they are.”
“Warren is lost in his own delusions.”
Neva belts out a laugh. “I guess that makes him a lot like you.” She heads into the house and slams the screen.
I guess that would make Warren a lot like me.
I hop in Gavin’s truck, and we take off. I watch as Loveless rises in a plume of dust in our wake. I can’t help but wonder if that’s what Reese and I will have reduced our friendship to in less than two weeks.
Dust.
Gavin keeps us locked inside the redwood forest longer than expected. We don’t get back into Loveless until late Sunday. Reese sent three texts.
I miss you.
My body misses your body.
And,Can we talk? Please call me when you get home. I don’t care how late it is.
Gavin glances over my shoulder. “Nice.”
“I guess.” I text her back.Just got these. On my way home. See you tonight?
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss her, that my dick hasn’t been crying out for her these past few days, that I didn’t desperately want to talk to her and let her know how I really feel.
“You going to tell her?” Gavin nods into the road as if he already knows.
“I want to. I’m just not sure it’s worth losing a friend over.” Deep down inside I feel like I could never lose Reese, never live without her for that matter either.
“You won’t lose her.” He digs his palm into his eye to wipe out the fatigue. “Tell her everything. In the least, tell her you’re going to Yeats. For as much as she’s willing to hide, you’re no saint yourself.”
“Never said I was one.”
Loveless comes up over the horizon, and I glance to my left at Reese’s house. The waterfront is lit up, there’s a makeshift stage, and I can hear the bass from a live band pulsating through the window.
“Looks like there’s a big party tonight.” Gavin twitches his brows. “We’d better hit the shower and get over there. Looks like someone’s getting laid tonight.” He offers up a knuckle bump. “That would be me by the way.” He scans a group of girls in barely-there skirts as they cross the street. “Sweet God up in heaven.” He groans as one of them licks her lips in his direction. “Maybe I’ll skip the shower and jump in the lake. You think one of those girls is in the mood for a skinny dip?”
A silent laugh strums from me. That’s how it all started for Reese and me.
