Hey, can you bring us coffee from Coffee Glo? My regular and a large drip with room, 2 sugars & cream
Jesus, just the thought of getting Alex his coffee hurts my heart. Bean doesn’t even realize how hard she’s making this. And I’m not about to tell her. Not now, anyway. Maybe after the wedding. But I’m terrified of fucking up our friendship. Just like I was terrified of fucking up whatever the hell Alex and I had before we fucked it up.
It’s a valid fear, apparently.
Ican’tlose Bean. I absolutely refuse to. So I guess I’ll just keep my mouth shut and get them coffees. And another one for me, because I deserve it. I must stare at the pastry case for too long because Gloria hands me a box with three danishes in it, winking at me. I smile, but it feels fake as fuck.
“You okay, Minnie?” Gloria’s brown eyes grow concerned.
“I’m fine, just tired, I guess.”
“Well, you’ve been going nonstop for a solid week. I know you’re young and all, but you can’t do that for long.”
“I’ll rest after Bean gets married.”
“You better. I’ll start slipping some sleeping pills in your coffee and switch you to decaf.”
I gasp. “You wouldn’t!”
“Don’t test me.” She points a finger at me.
“I won’t,” I promise. When she raises her eyebrows, I laugh before walking out the door.
Bean and Alex are waiting in her car in my driveway. It’snot quite visible from the house next door, which means Tiffany can’t see them.
“Hurry up! Before Mom wanders out and finds us. She’ll try to weasel her way in, then get pissy when we don’t let her come with us.”
I roll my eyes as I hop in the back seat. “Stop letting her control your life. Here, drink your coffee and pick a goddamned destination.” I hand her the drink carrier after taking mine out of it. She passes Alex’s drink over to him and puts hers in the cup holder, then she tosses the empty tray over her shoulder, hitting me in the head.
“Asshole. Now I’m not sharing the danishes Gloria decided we needed.” I take a big bite out of one.
“Ohhhh, there’s danishes? Gimme gimme gimme!” She reaches back and grabs the box. “Yoink! Here, Dad, you have to try one of these. We’ve been begging Gloria to tell us where she gets these things for years, but she just laughs at us.” She takes a bite and groans.
“I thought we had to hurry,” I say with a smirk.
“Shut up and pick some music.” She hands me her phone, and I pull up her playlists.
Alex turns slightly to look at me in the middle of the back seat and a wave of that spicy musk he wears hits me. “Do you want the front seat?”
“Nope, I’m fine. Front seat is better for tourists. The best view is usually through the windshield.” I meet his gaze for a second before looking at the phone again. He trimmed his beard since last night.
I pick a playlist called Vroom Motherfucking Vroom and hit shuffle. Bean shoves the last of her Danish in her mouth and backs out of the driveway.
“Where are we going?” I ask her before taking another bite of mine.
“The gorge. I forgot about the ticket system thing they added for Multnomah Falls, but lucked out and got one, so we’ll go there, then find lunch somewhere.”
“If you think we’re going all the way to the top of the falls, let me the fuck out now.”
“Shit, remember when we actually did that?”
“Yeah. No way is that happening now.” With my leg, the steep walking trail and switchbacks would be pretty much impossible. There’s a bridge not far up the trail I’ll be able to make it to, but I’m not going any further.
Bean catches my eye in the rearview mirror. “Have you gone to physical therapy since you’ve been here?”
“I forgot to call. I’ll get around to it.” I have a therapist here, but I like Billie better, and I’m annoyed that leaving New York means losing her, so I’ve just put off making an appointment. I glance over and notice that Alex’s sun visor is down, and the angle makes it so that when he looks up, our eyes meet again. The similarity of the two of them looking at me in the mirrors almost makes me laugh, but it also feels like a kick to the gut, reinforcing the ‘best friend’s father’ aspect of my life.
And his eyes… God, they’re so intense. And I can’t seem to force myself to look away from those pools of green. His brow furrows. He knows it’s been more than a week since my last session, but he can’t say anything in front of Bean.
