“Yes, you do,” Ashley said seriously, sitting up and nudging her with a fry. “You’re doing what feels good. And for once, you’re letting yourself have it.”
Ali’s eyes stung unexpectedly. “I think I want to see him again.”
Ashley smiled. “Then you will. And if he hurts you— well, I’m a lawyer with access to a baseball bat and an encyclopedic knowledge of Georgia self-defense statutes.”
Ali burst out laughing, nearly choking on a crinkle fry. “That’s deeply unhinged.”
Ashley grinned. “And legally sound. And I brought Zaxby’s.”
Ali leaned into her best friend’s shoulder and smiled. “You’re the best kind of insane.”
Ali’s phone buzzed.
She was halfway through folding a blanket from the couch, her hair messy from wallowing on the couch, when Dylan’s name lit up the screen.
Dylan:
Can I take you out sometime this week? Like…actually take you out. Not just… you know. Against a wall.
She snorted, cheeks instantly warming. “Unreal,” she muttered, heart fluttering as her thumb hovered over her screen.
She typed:
Ali (unsent):
That sounds nice but I’m not really up for being seen out somewhere together.
Delete.
Ali (unsent):
I don’t really do the whole going out thing. Like in public. Not with someone like you.
Delete.
Ali (unsent):
I want to. I do. But I’m just not ready for that yet. For what it would mean. How it might look.
Backspace. Delete.
She sighed, setting the phone down on the coffee table and walking away. She grabbed a Coke Zero from the fridge. Twisted off the cap. Took a sip. Came back and sat down, phone still glowing.
She took a breath and tried again.
I’d love to see you, I’m just… nervous about being out together. Like, in public. After everything from college. It’s been years, but some of that stuff still sticks, you know? I just need a little time to feel okay with all of that.
Her finger hovered over “send.” She reread it three times. Bit her lip. Then finally tapped it.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Hey. Thank you for telling me that.… How about this: I pick you up, we drive around and look at the prettyhouses on Mariner’s Lane and Dockside Ave. You can wear sweatpants and judge everyone’s landscaping choices. Then we grab something lowkey and eat it out at Bellamy Marsh Preserve. Sunset. Just you and me. No one else.
Her heart melted.
You remembered the marsh?
