Page 43 of Somewhere in the Sunset

“Why are we still friends with him?” I ask. It’s a genuine question, because I have no ideawhywe keep Adam around. “I know, I know. He’s good fun, usually, but he’s neverserious, and this blasé attitude of his is getting so fucking old.”

Cameron shrugs. “Teenager trapped in a grown man’s body, our Adam.” He smokes while I drink, and after a few moments of silence, he lifts a brow and says, “So .?.?. Gracie.”

I eye him sideways with a heavy look. “Spit it out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about her? We talk about everything, you and me,” Cameron says, and there’s a genuine flicker of betrayal in his eyes. “Is she really just a friend, Weston?”

“I’m trying to figure that out,” I admit. “I thought wewerejust going to be friends, but that line is starting to blur.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

I set my empty beer down on the sidewalk and lean back against the wall by Cameron’s side. It’s clear to him from my tense demeanor that Idothink it’s a bad thing. “Probably?” I say, then push my hand back through my hair with a groan. “We both onlyjustgot out of long-term relationships. I still have love for Charlotte, and Gracie still has love for that loser inside the bar. What if wearejust rebounding?”

Cameron exhales another puff of smoke into the air. “Do you really think that’s what’s happening?”

I think about this for a second. Rebounds are supposed to be casual, fun, temporary. I don’t want Gracie to be temporary, even just as friends. I’d very much like her to stick around in my life, because I like who I am when I’m with her. She may still have deeply embedded feelings for Luca, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a small flame burning for me. I could be wrong about that, sure .?.?. but I could also be right.

“I can’t explain it,” I say, swallowing hard, “but I definitely feel something for her.”

Cameron snaps his head to look at me and, when I turn to meet his gaze, I realize he’s smiling wide. “Good for you, man. Seriously. You’re allowed to meet someone else, so quit feeling guilty about it. You don’t owe Charlotte anything.”

I press my lips into a bold line. That’s easier said than done. Of course, I’m allowed to meet someone new eventually, but after three weeks .?.?. What does that say about me? Can I really be in love with someone yet build a bond with someone else so soon after they leave? Maybe I’m overthinking this. It’s not like I’m falling for Gracie. I just like being the shoulder she feels she can cry on.

The door of the bar swings open and Adam clumsily steps outside, shrugging on his jacket. “Right, where are we going next then? Sambuca shots are on me.”

GRACIE

I stare at the text from Luca for an awfully long time.

It reads:Meet me for coffee? Pier 39 at three? I need to talk to you.

There’s been an anxious tremor in my hands since I first read his message. What could Luca possibly want? Why does he need to talk to me? Dread fills me, because I don’t know if I can so much as look him in the eye after what happened the other night, let alone hold a conversation with him. What is there to say? Perhaps he wants to apologize, but that’s my naïveté taking over once again.

I don’t want to hear what Luca has to say. Weston told me I don’t have to run after him anymore, so I try something I’ve never done before – I put myself first and I text back:No thanks.Besides, I’m taking my first lesson with an instructor from a nearby driving school this afternoon, so I don’t have time to meet him even if I wanted to.

My phone immediately starts ringing in my hand as Luca’s name flashes across my screen, and I toss it away from me in a panic. I let it ring until the call gets sent to voicemail, but then a few seconds later, it rings again. I stare at my phone on the couch, my heart racing. Luca won’t stop calling until I answer.

I grab my phone and press it to my ear. “What?” My irritation is clear.

“Why won’t you meet me?” Luca asks abruptly, though he doesn’t deserve a reason. He played with my feelings, and that’snotokay when he’s already broken me enough as it is.

“Why do you think?”

Luca has the nerve to release an aggrieved sigh, and I almost hang up on him for it. “Fine, I’ll talk to you right now, then,” he says. “That guy who was in our apartment a few weeks ago when I came to get my stuff. Who the fuck is he, Gracie?”

I’m so taken aback by the question, I can’t even say anything at first. I had no idea what Luca wanted to talk to me about, but I never guessed for a second that it would be about Weston. It was weeks ago now that he caught Weston in the apartment retrieving his phone, and although he questioned it briefly at the time, he let it go. It’s never been mentioned again until now.

“Why are you bringing this up again?” I finally reply, forcing the words out. There’s a lump in my throat, because Weston isn’tjustsome guy who once came to collect a lost phone. A lot of things have happened since then. “I already told you. I found his phone at the club on my birthday and he came by in the morning to pick it up.”

“Liar,” Luca spits.

“Excuse me?” I blink, astonished. I absolutely am a liar, but how the hell does Luca know that?

“You’re a liar,” Luca repeats coldly. “I had a nice talk with him at the bar last night.”

I hate the way my stomach drops. I only lied about Weston at first because I was worried Luca would flip if he knew another guy had been in the apartment the night before, especially after I’d been at the club. Even though nothing happened between Weston and me, it didn’t look good. It made more sense to just pretend I’d found Weston’s phone at the club.

That was before. Now I’m lying about Weston because there’s actually something to lie about.

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