Page 62 of The Summer I Destroyed You

Or Bradley Grimm.

Well, yes, obviously.

Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you guys?

Those three dots circling, disappear, circle again. It takes her a moment to reply.

The Princess

I’d rather not.

I sigh. I’d mostly expected this answer. It only frustrates me because I don’t know any other way to get past those walls of hers.

One day, you’ll trust me enough to tell me everything.

The Princess

That sounds boyfriend-ish. And I leave in a couple weeks, remember? There is no “one day.”

She’s wrong. I’m stupidly certain of it, certain she will stay or somehow the world will shift on its axis to bring us both to the same place. But how much longer do I even have to make it happen?

* * *

Mac’s wedding is on Saturday. He and Cassie have been together since they were twelve, but JP’s wife still thinks they’re rushing into things.

“Twenty-two is so young,” says Brenda as we watch Mac and Cassie take their first dance. “They’ve never even dated anyone else. Seems risky.”

I disagree. I think they’re lucky in a way few other people are: they found the person they want to spend their lives with without a thousand false starts first. I want what they have, but I’d settle for a lot less. Right now, I’d settle for Emmy admitting she’s even with me.

After the reception, I go out for a drink with Caleb and—shockingly—Beck, who’s in town only for the night.

Giving up the bar and marrying Kate has stripped years from his face. He looks like a guy who has the whole world at his fingertips again and sort of can’t believe his luck. It’s somewhat awkward that he’s achieved this happy ending with Caleb’s ex-wife, and there was a time when I faulted him for making it so clear how he felt about her, but now I get it.

There are women you can’t look away from, or stay away from, no matter how evident it is that you should.

“So Harrison still hasn’t introduced you to her?” Beck asks of the LA girlfriend. “You think there’s something…wrong with her?”

I laugh. “Like what? Like she’s unattractive? Harrison’s wound up with the hottest women since he was twelve.”

“I don’t know,” Beck says, shaking his head. “I just don’t think things in London went quite the way he claimed they did. You don’t give up your whole fucking life to move to another country for your wife, only to come back two months later wrapped up in someone else.”

“Speaking of being all wrapped up,” Caleb says, turning to me, “what’s going on with you and the girl from the other week?”

“What girl?” Beck asks, grinning indulgently as he sets his beer on the bar.

“He’s in love,” Caleb says with a laugh. “You should have seen him…this girl’s flirting with Troy Alexander, and all of a sudden, Liam’s on his feet, following her to the bathroom.”

Beck chuckles under his breath. “How long was he gone?”

I flip him off. “I had to man the bar after you threw Kate over your shoulder and carried her back to the office last summer. Let’s talk about how long you were gone.”

“Difference is you’re discussing my wife, and I’m discussing a girl you haven’t even admitted to liking.”

“There’s nothing going on,” I say stonily. I’m not spilling my guts about Emerson when she refuses to even admit we’re dating.

“What’s up, boys?” asks Paul Bellamy, throwing one arm around me and one arm around Beck.

I push his arm off me. “Nothing.”

---