Page 33 of Mic Drop

Can’t argue with this logic, considering I just asked Jenna—not Lissa—to be my wife. “Guess that’s one way of looking at it.” I run my finger around the rim of my glass.

“I tried to call you about it several times, but you never returned my calls.”

I scowl. “I wasn’t interested in talking.” Then. “Get on with your story.”

“Fine. I went to the senior prom with Lissa. We hung out. She fed me some line about not wanting to have sex until marriage.”

At least she told him the same thing as me. “Told you.”

“You did. I figured after I graduated, you and I would work things out. But your father—” He trails off.

No need to relive this part of my life. “Yeah.”

“And you went underground. I actually drove to the funeral but couldn’t bring myself to go inside.”

My hand fists. How do I respond to this? “It’s all a blur anyway.”Why did I let him off the hook?

“Then you were working at the amusement park. The next thing I heard, you were dropping out of high school to join a band. I was off to college on a tennis scholarship. Our lives went in different directions.”

Enough memory lane shit. “How does Lissa play into this, Curtiss?” I deserve props for not adding a hiss to the end of his name. Or hers.

He pushes his glasses up his nose. “After your father died, Lissacame to me. All weepy. Said she didn’t know how to help you. Felt she let you down by going to the prom with me.”

My fingers strum on the armrest. When he doesn’t continue, I prompt, “And?”

“Well, she needed comfort. So did I. We, we had sex.” It’s as if Río did a rimshot to punctuate his admission. “Throughout the summer, we were together. When I came home on college break, it continued.”

“Bully for you. Hope she was worth it.”

“I didn’t tell you this for any other reason than context. You know how Lissa was, always concerned about her appearance and stuff. After you took off with the band, she dove in deeper. Adding hair extensions. Going for plastic surgery on her nose.”

“I noticed something was different with her face, but I missed the nose job. She must’ve had some good surgeon.”

“Yes, he was good.” He takes off his glasses, revealing tiny lines around his eyes. “About this time, she decided she wanted to become an influencer. Untamed Coaster was an unknown, and I think she was trying to show you what you were missing.”

I huff. “Just what I needed. Another crazy in my life.”

Curtiss doesn’t respond to my comment, although he acknowledges it with a nod. “She met with a bunch of modeling agents trying to break into the business. All of them told her she had to drop at least ten pounds.”

I frown. For all her faults, Lissa never had an extra ounce of fat on her body. “From where?”

“That’s what I told her. She ignored me, though, and started taking diet pills. Laxatives. Anything so she could shed the imaginary pounds.”

Ashley comes by and takes my glass. Wordlessly, she asks if I want a second, but I shake my head. I need all my wits about me now. “Go on.”

“Well, throughout it all, we continued to have sex during mycollege breaks. I can’t be sure, but I think she also dated other guys in high school.”

More to myself than to him, I say, “Lovely.”

“Yeah. I was getting ready to break things off with her when she told me she was pregnant.”

I sit straight up. Shewaspregnant? “There was a baby? It was yours? The one she’s been telling the world was mine?”

“I can’t be sure. I believe the baby was mine.”

“What happened? Did she also have the miscarriage she’s claiming?”

“She did.” He pauses. “I’m convinced it was from the diet pills she was taking. Her body was super-thin at this point, and whatever hormones the pills put in her body couldn’t have helped.”

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