Page 14 of All Too Well
I’ve been able to avoid the man, my mistakes, and my absolute embarrassment of the fact that I misread the night of his mother’s funeral so freaking much.
That night is burned into my brain, and I would’ve given anything for a touch of selective amnesia.
He was sad, hurt, and drunk, but I kissed him. I lifted up on my toes, thinking he really wanted me. I have never felt that level of mortification.
Lachlan runs his hands through his thick brown hair. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, but, like I said, I was going to call or come by later. I just needed to unpack.”
Which honestly wasn’t even my thought, because I cannot stay here. However, now I sort of need to do it, because I don’t have another option.
“Ainsley . . . we should talk.”
“Yes, we definitely should. I’m not ready for an interview yet, but I’d love to set up a time we can meet.”
At that he jerks his head back. “Interview?”
“Yes, I’m here for you.”Yeah, that doesn’t sound stupid at all. Way to go, Ainsley.I clear my throat. “I mean that I’m here for my paper.”
“I’m not following,” Lachlan says slowly.
I’m just screwing this up at every turn. “I work for a small press out of New York, and I’m here because we’d love to do a piece about you.”
“No.”
That went just about the way I expected, but it still stings. Lachlan always hated attention, which was ironic since he was so amazing at football. He spent many of his high school days talking to scouts, the school newspaper, and the local town jotter, and he loathed it.
Well, now I’m here to change the narrative. I’m going to make this a better experience so I can stop writing about hats and makeup.
“Listen, I know there’s some resistance to this, but it’ll be painless. I can just follow you around, take notes—you won’t even know I’m here.”
He huffs at that. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. We haven’t seen each other or talked in four years, and you just want to show up and follow me around?”
I don’t want any of this. I would’ve been perfectly fine carrying on with my life for the next four years pretending Lachlan West was a figment of my imagination. However, thanks to my asshole coworkers, I can’t do that.
“I mean, I think it’s the best plan.”
“We should talk about that night,” he suggests again, and I lift my hand.
“That’s all in the past, Lach. I’m really fine. I’m just here to work.”
I just dream about it daily.
Hurt flashes in his eyes, and God, this stupid girl in me wants to soothe it. To be the girl he used to come to when he was sad. “Ainsley, you’ve avoided me for years. I miss ... I want to talk and ... Jesus, why is this so hard with you? You were my friend too. I tried to talk to you and you ghosted me.”
He missed me?
No. Do not go there.
Lachlan West is that guy who I was never allowed to like but did anyway, and I am way too weak when it comes to him.
When I started high school, I thought maybe, just maybe, he would stop seeing me as Caspian’s sister. The annoying girl who followed the two of them around like a rabbit on a string. I wanted that so damn much, but it didn’t happen.
Instead, I became a new kind of annoying. The one who was caught staring at him just a little too long. The girl who wanted to comfort him when his mom died and found him alone in thegarden, holding a bottle of whiskey, and he kissed me—no, no, I kissed him.
I must keep the facts straight.
Also, I don’t want to talk about that night. I want him to pull me into his arms, look into my eyes, and tell me it’s always been me for him. That he loves me and the last four years have been the worst of his life.
