Page 41 of The Now in Forever
The slam of a door wakes me up. I bolt upright, not remembering for a second where I am. Then it all comes back to me at once in a whoosh. I wipe my chin and am grateful Ed didn’t find me asleep and drooling in his bed. So much for my come-hither arrangement. The ladder creaks, and Ed pops his head up, his brow wrinkled. I quickly move off the bed.
“How it go with your mom?”
“We should probably go,” he says, completely ignoring my question. “I can skate with you home.”
“Oh.” My heart sinks like a lead anchor in the ocean. Of all the things I thought he might say, that wasn’t one of them. “I can find my way to my friend’s house. You don’t have to?—”
“I’m not going to let you go alone. It’s too late—or early at this point. I’m not sure. Where does your friend live?”
“Near Clark’s Point, just past Old Town.”
“Full circle for us, then.”
I nod, still feeling like my heart is underwater. I don’t want this night to end, but of course it has to sometime. I grab my bag and check my phone. It’s already after four. I was asleep for longer than I thought. “I’m ready.” I’m not. “Let’s go.”
We ride through the night. Everything is quiet and still aside from the sound of my tires and Ed’s skateboard wheels. Not a breeze rustling the leaves, not another soul in sight. The bar crowd is long gone.
The ride takes us around thirty minutes, and by the time we get to Robin’s neighborhood, I’m sweaty and drained. I don’t want the sound of the skateboard to wake up Robin’s parents, so I stop a couple of blocks away. Ed stops too, his chest heaving with effort. He wipes his brow with the sleeve of his suit jacket, which he put back on when we left.
“I can make it from here.”
He reaches for my fingers with the tips of his. “Feel like watching the sunrise with me?”
My smile is so pure, I can feel it radiating off my face. “Yes. I would like that.”
Ed’s smile matches mine. He glances around at the large houses, all in the multi-million-dollar range. “This isn’t really my neighborhood. I’m not sure where to go.”
The sky is starting to lighten; we have to go somewhere close. “I know just the place.” I get back on my bike. “Grab on.”
Ed grabs my seat, and I pedal, pulling him on his board behind me.
CHAPTER 9
MONDAY, JULY 1ST
My mind is spinning. What does he mean,know each other? Is he talking about the signing? Or does he really rememberthat day? He keeps talking.
“Ten years ago. Neighborhood Books. We met up after work, after I quit.”
I scoot back, sloshing the wine in my glass. “Wait, you quit?”
A slow smile spreads across his face like syrup on hot pancakes. “You do remember.”
“I remember you yelling at a customer and getting fired.”
“Kat might’ve been going to fire me, but I quit. I found out I got into the writer’s residency in Colorado late, like super late. My roommates didn’t give me the letter, and I wasn’t great about checking e-mail. Anyway, I had to quit. I had to leave the next day.”
We sit there silent for a beat. He’d quit. How did I not know he’d quit? What else is different than I thought it was aboutthat day?
“I’m so relieved you remember,” Ed says and refills his glass of wine. “When we met in the kitchen and you just brought up the signing, I thought… Well, for a minute I wasn’t sure it was you. Then when I was, I thought you had forgotten the whole thing.”
Fire fills my veins. “Me? You thoughtIforgot? I’ve alwaysremembered. And even after everything, I went to your book signing, gave you my name, and you didn’t even know it was me.”
Ed opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but nothing comes out. There’s a knock at the door, making us both jump. I cross the room, but Ed stands, grabs a flashlight from the coffee table, and strides in front of me.
“Let me get it.”
He opens the door, and a gust of cold wind instantly blows in. Anh is standing in the doorway, suitcase in hand, her black hair wet and plastered to her head.
