Page 50 of Next to Everything We Wanted

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Raina wiggled her eyebrows at me. “I told you it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Gosh, stop doing that eyebrow thing.” I shook my head and beamed at my screen.

Sienna

Haha I do

Sorry I didn’t text earlier

Finished an embarrassing gig but we had fun

Ivan

Glad you had fun

But you should be sorry

I’ve been waiting for your text ever since I gave you my number last night

Warmth bloomed in my chest. I’d been stressed over this for nothing. I had this in the bag.

CHAPTER 13

Gavin

“Why are you still on your phone?”

I looked up from my screen to see Asher frowning as he held a frisbee in his hand. It was Memorial Day, and we’d been at the beach for almost an hour. The whole time, I couldn’t stop texting Sienna.

Guilt washed over me as I put my phone in my lap. “I’m sorry. I’ll play with you now.”

I shot a quick text to Sienna in the middle of our ketchup versus mustard debate. It was a fun break from the serious stuff, and I actually dug it.

Gavin

Sorry, my brother wants me to play with him, ttyl

Sienna

Wow, your brother must be jealous of me

Kidding, go play with him, kids grow up too fast

Wow that made me sound old

Have fun

Something tugged in my chest as I looked up at Asher, who looked back at me with a mix of frustration and eagerness. Did I ever look that intense when I was upset? More guilt crashed over me like the waves we listened to.

“Well?” Asher asked, holding the frisbee out to me. “I didn’t train Dapper for nothing.”

I smiled as I took the frisbee and got up from my chair. “Let’s hope your training was more effective this time.”

He nodded before we played with the Frisbee and Dapper. In the middle of our session, Asher asked, “Who have you been texting all weekend?”

“Just a new friend,” I said. “She’s very fun to talk to.”

Asher raised an auburn eyebrow. “She? What about Celeste?”

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