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“Ry, let yourself enjoy this moment, don’t worry about it yet,” he said, brushing his hands down her arms, then interlacing his hands with hers. “And I have a feeling she’ll come around.”
She looked down at their hands, her heart aching at the way they fit perfectly. She squeezed her eyes shut and after a deep breath, she let go.
“Haverport is seventeen hundred miles away from North Texas.”
“I know.”
She felt his hand brush hers again, but she backed away. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe…maybe this would just get too complicated. Plus, you’re still technically with Zoe and taking her to prom…”
“Rory—”
She cut him off. “Today is not about you or me. It’s about Mel. We need to get going.” She stepped around him and grabbed her wallet. “And I need to make a pitstop first, if you don’t mind.”
He nodded, looking broken and defeated. “Yeah, okay.”
* * *
She kept her gaze out the passenger window the entire ride to Sandy Cove, her hands gripping the present on her lap, keeping her focus on her friend and pushing Tyler’s disappointed look out of her mind.
No one seemed to notice the fact that they arrived together, except Jay. His lips were pressed into a tight line, his eyes downcast as he glared at the two of them approaching the group.
Rory ignored the flip-flopping in her stomach as she glanced around the Scoopers, realizing the most important person was missing. “Where’s Mel?”
Calvin pointed to the beach. Rory followed his hand and found Melanie in between two practically identical sandcastles, shaping the tower for one to match the other. When she finished, she sat down, looking satisfied with her creation, then turned her attention toward the ocean before her.
Rory noticed Calvin smiling out of the corner of her eye. He excused himself and stepped down the porch and out to the beach, taking a seat next to her.
The cottage’s screen door swung open. “CAKE!” Jess screamed.
“Don’t worry, Rory is a good six feet from you,” Blake teased.
“That’s it,” Rory said, planting her hands on her hips as she turned toward Blake. “You’re officially the new Ass Hat.”
Tyler burst out laughing, which had Rory chuckling as well, relieved at the tension dissipating. He was hiding his disappointment well.
Blake made some kind of snarky comment back to her, but she couldn’t comprehend it, her mind way too focused on the way Jay just stood there with his arms tight around his chest. Looking like he was ready to bolt.
Jess went to slice the double layer ice cream cake she made as Melanie’s parents came through the front door, followed by Kevin. He sidled up next to Jess and placed a stack of paper plates on the table before looking up at Rory. She didn’t mean to frown at him as she pieced together why Kevin was here, but her facial expression must have been telling enough because he winked in her direction.
“Crap, this cake is too cold to cut,” Jess said, completely oblivious to how close Kevin was standing next to her. “I’m going to run the knife under some hot water.”
Jess escaped into the kitchen, and Rory couldn’t help herself—she followed. Jess looked over her shoulder as she approached the sink, her expression unreadable. She flicked on the hot water without saying anything.
“Jess…”
She watched as Jess brushed her blonde bangs out of her face before pressing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and looking in her direction.
“I’m sorry,” Rory said softly, stepping closer so no one could hear them through the open windows. “I shouldn’t have showed up to your apartment unannounced. You were…clearly in the middle of something.”
“You think?”
“I was having an awful day at school. I skipped, actually. It’s…a long story.”
“Everything okay with you and Gabi?”
She leaned against the counter, ignoring the wave of nausea in her stomach as she thought about the conversation they planned to have later that night. “Not exactly.”
Jess lifted her chin toward the crowd outside. “And the boys?”
