A small smile hit my lips.
“Damn. Now I want someone who’s dark.”
Kristie tapped her glass against Malinda’s, “Same.”
That night, as I got ready for bed, I caught a whiff of something.
I looked at my bed and felt the air in my lungs stall.
That hoodie.
That hoodie I’d bought for him when I was sixteen, for a Christmas present, was lying on my pillow.
I padded over the carpet, bent and picked it up, then I brought it to my nose and inhaled.
That nothing I’d been feeling for years... was slowly starting to ebb away.
How in the world could I be mad at him when he did things like this?
God, I wanted to be.
Raging.
Furious.
But moments like this. Taking time out of his day to do this... I was wavering.
Damn him.
I slept in that hoodie that night.
***
Four weeks later, I was on a FaceTime call with my mom. We were making our final plans for a family vacation when she frowned.
“What?” I asked.
She narrowed her eyes, then said, “Hang on, baby. Garret?”
I heard my dad answer back, “Yeah, baby?”
“Did you already pay the travel agency?” she asked.
“Nope. Next week I’m paying it. Why?” he asked.
She frowned again, “Because it was already paid. I’ll call you back, Cree.”
Then she was gone.
I frowned.
Who in the world would pay for something like that?
And then it hit me... Ripper.
I knew he did it.
Me – Why did you do that?
