Page 32 of The Story We Wrote

Finally, Theo and Penny came up the driveway, the gravel crunching under the car tires. I glanced down at my phone to check the time, 8:15 pm, which told me Penny wasn’t ready when Theo arrived. I put my wine glass down on the arm of my chair and stood to greet them. Meeting them halfway, I grabbed the box of wine Penny was carrying. She loved anything cheap and in a bag.

“It’s about time!” I said, bringing them in one by one for a side hug.

“Yeah, well, Penny wasn’t ready. You’d think after all these years of friendship, I would’ve been more prepared,” Theo said, playfully rolling her eyes.

“I had to look good!” She whispered to us right before we got to the pit. “Well, hello!” she said, doing a little finger wave at the guys sitting by the fire.

I looked at Mac, trying to see if there was any reaction. I’m trying my best to play matchmaker. When I didn’t see what I was looking for, any outward expressions of lust, I looked to Boone, who was looking at me. I gave him a “we need to get to work” look which consisted of me just opening my eyes wide at him. Whether he was able to gather all that by just my eyes, we’d find out.

I took my place at the fire; Penny sat to my right, which put her right next to Mac. Theo found space between Rhodes and Boone. Thankfully, the man I needed to stay away from was seated across the fire.

As the night went on, I had the persistent feeling someone was watching me. Finally, I looked up from whatever conversation I was having and got my answer. Boone wasreclined in his chair, staring at me over the flames. He put that shit grin on his face and took a slow sip of his beer. I felt teased by the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. If it were just once, maybe I would’ve said it was a coincidence, but it was starting to feel like a pattern. I refused to look in his direction, not needing the temptation. We’re friends. He was my neighbor who was helping me find the inspiration I needed to write my novel. After one date, I’d say it was working.

“Boone, you’re never going to guess who I ran into in town the other day,” Mac said.

“I don’t think I wanna know,” Boone replied, sipping his beer.

“Miranda Yert.” Mac made his eyebrows go up and down, turning up one side of his mouth.

“Miranda Yert?!” Rhodes echoed, sounding shocked. “I haven’t heard that name in a long fucking time.”

She was the prom queen at our high school, a blonde bombshell. The typical “southern bell” you saw in the movies. She had the boys in school begging to take her out.

She was also probably one of the meanest girls in our school. Giggling and talking behind your back, but loud enough for you to hear. I sadly knew from first-hand experience. I cringed whenever I heard her name.

She moved to the city after graduation, and I had a sense of relief that I wouldn’t have to see her face in town and relive all the shit she made me feel. Miranda was the one who had Justin Bullock, my middle school crush, pretend to ask me to the eighth-grade dance as a prank. Talk about shots to the ego at a young age.

I sipped my wine, avoiding having any part of the conversation.

“Boone, you were one of the lucky ones who got to see what it was like to get in her bed,” Mac said, shaking his head.

My blood pressure spiked, and I felt dizzy and hot in a matter of seconds. Thinking about Boone and Miranda made me sick to my stomach. I was suddenly angry, irrationally so. I had no idea Boone had ever been with Miranda. Of course, he had. Of course, somehow, she would come back to haunt me. I was jealous, and I couldn’t help it.

“Meh,” Boone said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t even remember it.”

“Come on! She was all over you until we graduated from high school. It must’ve been something.” Rhodes replied.

“Well, once was enough for me,” Boone spoke in a tone that sounded like he was done with the conversation. He was no longer smiling, and when I looked up, he was back staring at me.

“Yuck,” Penny said, her face turning into a disgusted expression. “Miranda was, and probably still is, vile. The shit she put Aspen through, she deserves to have karma knocking on her door.”

Now, I wasn’t just red from anger, I was red from embarrassment. I needed to change the subject, right now. “Alrighty!” I said, clapping my hands together. “Why don’t we play a game or something?” I looked around the group. This was the first time I noticed Theo. She wasn’t drinking a beer, instead holding a water bottle. I took a mental note to revisit that later.

“What about Cheers to the Governor?” Penny suggested.

Cheers to the governor required just you and a drink; it was easy. “I’m good with that,” I said everyone else in the group nodded as well.

To play, you go around the circle and, one by one, take turns counting to 21. Anyone who messes up and says the wrong number has to drink. Once the number 21 is counted off, everyone yells, “Cheers to the governor!” and drinks. Whoever says “21” makes up a rule for the game. If someone breaks therule during the next round, they have to drink, and the counting starts over.

“I’ll go first!” Penny yelled, “Then we will go to Mac and then Boone and so on.”

Penny started the countdown, and we made it through the first round easily; we all shouted “cheers to the governor” before taking a drink. The number landed on Boone, of course, meaning that he made the first rule.

“My rule is, no one can say my name; they have to call me daddy,” Boone said proudly like that was the best rule he could possibly come up with. I rolled my eyes, which didn’t get past Boone.

“What, Aspen? You don’t want to call me daddy?” He was grinning ear to ear, holding the beer can up to his mouth. He didn’t break eye contact as he tipped the can back and took a long pull. When he was done, his tongue started out and licked the residue from his top lip.

Play. It. Cool. Aspen.

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