Page 36 of Sunshine with You
“What if I do?” Her glare sparks with the residual heat from her conversation outside, clearly shoutingproceed with caution. Without taking my eyes off her, I reach for the bottle and hand it over with a smirk. In a power move, she tips it to her lips, maintaining eye contact until I look away. I stifle a laugh at her obstinance as I sit next to her.
“Here.” She shoves the wine at me, waving it side to side until I take it from her. “I’m not drinking alone, so here. Drink.”
Tilting it to my lips, I shake my head as I sip the fruity blend.Damn, she’s feisty.
“Whyare men?” she asks abruptly, making me choke on the wine in my mouth as I laugh.
“Why are men what?”
“Aggravating? Demanding? Stupid? Take your pick.”
I shrug, setting the bottle on my leg. “Men get away with whatever they’re allowed to.”
She grabs the bottle from my hands and takes a long draw, then sticks it between her knees. “That’s shitty.”
“Yeah, maybe… Still true though. Do you want to talk about it?”
“He called me selfish and aimless, just because I don’t want to get married and have his?—”
“Ashy babies,” I finish for her with a chuckle. “I heard that part.”
“Ugh!” she groans into her hands before taking another swig.
“Why they gotta be ashy though?” I ask, trying to tease a smile out of her.
Her shoulders shake as she lets out a laugh. “It was the only thing I could think of to get him to shut up. He kept talking over me, telling me all the things I’m supposed to be doing with my life, and I lost it.” She focuses on the TV, and the next thing I know, her giggles have turned to sobs. Big ones.
Fuck.
I don’t do tears. People crying gives me a headache. This is usually when I make my exit. Let someone else handle it. But I’m the only one here, and her weeping does things to my stone-cold heart that I’m not accustomed to. I can’t leave her like this, even if it’s uncomfortable.
“Hey…don’t… It’s okay.” I slide over, rubbing her back with one hand while moving the bottle of wine to the table with the other. “I bet you twenty bucks he calls you tomorrow to work it out.”
“Yeah, and I’ll probably answer, like an idiot, because I can’t stand disappointing people.” Her sniffles slow, and she looks down at her hands.
“You don’t want to work it out?”
She shrugs with a sigh. “He doesn’t leave enough space for me to figure anything out for myself. I don’t know if we want the same things anymore.” Her tears were short-lived, but she still looks sad as hell. It punches me in the gut—like someone snuffed all the light out of the room. I fucking hate it.
“Want to watch funny videos?” I ask, trying to think of anything that might help. Standing, I nod toward the stairs. “There’s a projector set up in the loft we could stream to. It might help get your mind off of it.”
Sniffling, she takes my outstretched hand and grabs the wine before following me up the stairs. A couple of hours and another half bottle of wine later, Ashlie looks sufficiently humored and thoroughly relaxed. She turns to me with a smile. “You’re good at this, Hunter.”
“Good at what?”
“Being there for people.”
“Am I?” I didn’t think I was doing anything other than trying to make her laugh. It’s what I would want in her situation. I know better than anyone that telling someone how to feel is a waste of time.
“Yeah. You didn’t try to change my mind. It’s a different approach than most people have. It’s a gift.”
“I’m just tryna be a good friend.” I shrug.
“Well, you are.” She stands and grabs the phone that tumbled out of her lap. “I should go.”
“Whoa, wait. Naw. You can’t drive right now.”
“I’m so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. I just want sleep.”
