Page 40 of Gunner

“So, I hear you and Gunner...” She trailed off, taking a sip from her drink, clearly expecting me to finish the sentence.

“There is no me and Gunner. Brian Castor was pestering me on the street last week, and Gunner stepped in. It was stupid. He was stupid for what he said because up to that point, I’d had two interactions with the man, and neither would have led to being friends. Let alone lovers.”

“What about yesterday? At The Diner. I heard Penelope squawking about how you were trying to steal her man.”

I choked on my drink, coughing intensely. Audrey slapped my back, trying to help. I didn’t bother mentioning that wasn’t how you helped.

“Penelope is welcome to have him. But from what I saw at The Diner, he told her to stay away from him.”

“Really? Penny said they’ve been on and off for three years.”

“I have never heard that. Of course, I don’t talk to Penny, ever.”

Penelope Ridgefield was my sworn enemy. When we were seventeen, she told Jerry Swine that I had a crush on him. Jerry was exactly what you would picture when you hear the name Swine.

Penny spread around the entire school that Jerry and I had sex in the cafeteria before school one morning. All because the guy she wanted to go to prom with, Jacob Markham, had asked me.

I turned him down.

I didn’t go to prom.

There was no reason to. There was no one to go shopping with, no one to take pictures when he picked me up. So I stayed home.

Did I regret not going?

Not even a little bit. Prom wasn’t me. I was too focused on school and getting a scholarship. Prom was one night; college would decide my whole life.

“Penny has always been jealous of you.”

I looked at Audrey and asked, “Why?”

“Are you kidding? You’re gorgeous. All the guys in school wanted to date you.”

“Because I had no parents. They all thought I was easy. Especially after Penny spread that rumor around about Jerry Swine.” Just saying his name caused me to shudder violently.

“Miss Walker?”

“Sorry,” I apologized, shaking my head. “What did you say?”

“Sheriff O’Rourke would like you to come to the hospital.”

“Why?”

I wasn’t involved. I didn’t need to be seen.

“Haizley.” I turned at the voice I recognized.

“Hi, Corbin.”

Deputy Corbin Blackwater had been two years ahead of me in high school, but we shared a love of cheesy 90s romcoms. When I was a sophomore and he was a senior, we shared a table in film class. There we learned we were kindred spirits when it came to romantic comedies. When my parents died, he spent a lot of time with me just watching movies.

If there was anyone in this town I considered a friend, it was him.

“Sheriff wants you to be present when Aspen wakes up. She’ll need someone to talk to.”

“Oh gosh. Yes, I can do that. I’ll head over there now. Unless you need anything else, Deputy?”

Turning back to Deputy Reed, I noticed his glare aimed at Corbin. I wasn’t sure why. But it made me take a small step back.

---