Page 225 of Reverse

“Just admit it, out of the two of us, you’re the shittier tour guide.”

“Whatever. I was forced to think on my toes, and this is what I came up with. You’re welcome to summon Joel back.” I wave my hand dismissively and sit on the cool grass, staring up at the cloudless early morning sky.

“Nah, this is the perfect place,” he twists a piece of plucked grass between his fingers after taking a seat next to me.

“Okay, I’m here, and I’m freezing. Out with it.”

“I’m getting to it,” he says, “just talk to me for a little while.”

“What’s the point?”

“Because you’re the only one I find I want to talk to anymore, and I fucked that up. So please, Natalie, humor me.”

His eyes search mine briefly, and I nod. Ten minutes of small talk later, Joel pulls up and pops the back hatch of the SUV.

“What’s going on?”

Easton stands. “Sit tight.”

In minutes, Easton’s stalking back towards me, arms loaded. A bag hangs from one of his wrists as he hauls a Styrofoam cooler covered with thick, folded blankets, a bound manuscript sitting atop them. Standing, I help him spread a blanket and wrap myself in another as he unloads a bag full of snacks and a thermos full of coffee. Popping the top off the cooler, I discover a mix of juices, water, and beer. “Seriously, Joel is a miracle worker,” I say, pulling out a water.

“Yeah, he is,” Easton agrees. “Is it weird that my best friend is twenty years older than me?”

“No. Not at all. Why? Did someone tell you that?”

“Yeah. But you know I don’t care about anyone else’s opinions.” He stares at me pointedly, and I read between the lines.But yours.

Refuting the new chill up my spine, I eye the script.

“Time to come clean, Easton.”

“When we split, I struggled with it so badly. It never felt right. Not once. I couldn’t understand why the most beautiful, intelligent creature to ever come into my life wasn’t for me . . .” he shakes his head and swallows.

Please, God, be merciful.

“I went a little rogue, and then I ignored it, but I decided I had to figure it out, or I wouldn’t be able to find any peace. LL’s incident kind of drove me over, and it was that night I realized the answer to everything plaguing me had been sitting in my messenger bag for months.”

He flips the cover of the manuscript.

“I’ve seen the movie.”

He shakes his head. “This is thebookmy mom wrote, thewholestory.”

I pick it up and weigh its thickness. “With my father?”

“Yeah. It’s all in there. All of it.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Mom gave it to me when we were all at odds—before the night of the gala, before we broke up—but I was too pissed at them to bother opening it.”

For the first time since Easton pulled up, I feel real fear snake through me.

“Easton, I don’t know if I can go back there,” I shiver, tightening the blanket more firmly around me. “I don’t see the point.”

“Whatever trust you have left for me,” he whispers, “use it now, okay?”

Biting my lip, I stare back at him before my fear finally speaks for me. “I don’t see how this—”

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