“Dad?”Evie asked me.
I nodded.“What he said.”
Christy grabbed my hand and squeezed.I looked over and saw her eyes shut tight, her lips pressed together.
I pulled her into my arms and held her for a minute while she cried.She held onto me like I was the only thing keeping her upright.
She let go a minute later, drawing a shaky breath and busying herself with getting plates and glasses out for everyone.I helped her get things ready while Evie and Oscar kept Coach talking.
“Want to go outside for a minute?”I asked her.
She lifted sad eyes to me.“I don’t think even the water will help me today.”
I nodded.After her mom died, Christy spent a lot of time in the water.She told me once that she felt like everything was okay when she was staring at the water.There was no beginning or end to anything, just existence.Water had a way of soothing all the rough edges, and she knew she could handle anything when she was around the water.
But this was different.There was no solving this.The end was inevitable.And it was going to hurt like fucking hell.
Fourteen
Reegan
Two daysafter Ashlyn saw Rob with someone else, she decided she was over him.“For good,” she declared as she got ready for work.
I knew it was bullshit, but I was not going to call her on it.I was there to be supportive, and if that meant going along with the lie she wanted to tell herself, I was going to do it.
“Good for you,” I said, sitting on her bed as she got ready.It felt like being in college again.Sitting on her bed while she got ready to go to class or on a date.She always did the same for me.For dates, not for class because she was never up early enough.
“It is good.I’m ready to move on.We should go out tonight.There’s a great bar on the water, amazing views.It’s sophisticated and classy.Like us.”
I grinned.“Sounds good.Although I might need to borrow something to wear.I didn’t pack for sophisticated or classy.”
“I have options.”She looked at me as if just noticing something.“You look different the last few days.”
My cheeks heated.I still hadn’t confessed that I was getting to know her next-door neighbor.I promised Josh I would, but Ashlyn had been so down, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about my new romance when her latest one was still smoldering.And not the good kind of smolder.
“Have I been that bad?”she asked.
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and shrugged, hiding her expression from me, which meant she was bordering on tears again.“I know you came here to help me get over Rob, but I didn’t want to ruin your entire summer with my sadness.”
I unfolded my legs and got off her bed.I waited until she lifted her gaze to mine before I spoke.“You are not ruining anything.You are entitled to your sadness.And Rob is an asshole who deserves a constant case of jock-itch and unrepentant halitosis.”
Ashlyn snorted.“I love you.”
I hugged my bestie tight.“I love you.You deserve someone who will see how amazing you are, and I am not at all upset to be here to remind you of that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She released me, drawing a full breath, then shaking off her melancholy with her exhale.“You are my favorite person.”
“And you’re mine.”
She smiled and left her room, heading for the coffeepot that was still full.“You didn’t have any coffee today again?”
I did, but I had it with Josh.After we had sex in her Adirondack chair under a blanket that would need to be washed if we kept meeting like we were in the mornings.
