Page 19 of Faking Forever 1
I discard my bowl in the sink, starting to clean it out.
“God, you’re serious…” he mumbles, rubbing his face again, similar to earlier.
His body creeps closer to mine, reaching over me to shut the water off.
“Hey, I wasn’t—”
“Lemme talk, would you?” he says, pressing his giant finger against my lips to silence me.
Against my will, it was his turn to speak.
“Paisley, that guy cheated on you for nearly your entire relationship—you find out the minute you’re leaving—quite frankly, I’m not sure what you see in him.”
Okay, that’s all? I part my lips to try my hand at speaking again, only an utter leaving my mouth. Still unsuccessful.
“Hush.” he says, grabbing each of my shoulders, “Listen, I know how hard it was to get over the entire thing. I mean, you’re allowed to be angry.”
Squeezing my shoulders, he tilts his head slightly, looking 46
BRING ME FLOWERS
for my eyes.
“I just think you should remind yourself that he’s the one missing out. Not you.”
My bare arms shutter at his grasp, goosebumps turning up as he grazes his thumbs along my skin. His hands are so warm and so unexpectedly soft. The feeling made me mute.
“Okay?” he reels me back in.
“Okay.” I barely speak.
His hands drop from my arms and move to his pockets. Mine resort to hugging my body. Now I felt insecure and dramatic. I can’t imagine how ridiculous it looks right now. Weeping and wallowing about Nicholas like a fucking idiot. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to help it. It’s like a severe, obsessive hatred, more or less.
“We’re picking up Sierra, right?” I quickly change the subject.
“Yes—for sure.” he blabs.
“Cool. This can’t possibly be why you’re here so early, though.” I suggest.
He half smiles, “Actually,” he extends his voice, “I thought you might wanna go for a drive. Like old times?” he adds, driving an imaginary car.
He’s such a stupid dork.
“Plus, there is something I’d like to show you,” he adds more.
“Okay.”
I nod without thinking, “The surprise part though—you know how I feel about surprises.”
“This is a good one, I swear. You just gotta see for yourself.”
Itbetterbe a good one or I’m not hesitating to kick his ass.
The last time I had a surprise, it resulted in my throwing up in front of nearly thirty people. Not my finest moment, and I 47
FAKING FOREVER
would not like to revisit it either.
