Page 57 of Can I Tell You Something?
“I should have been upfront with you, but I can’t apologise for the way I feel. I didn’t know she was going to be so… Hannah. She’s incredible.”
He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “I’m her brother, you don’t need to tell me what she’s like. She doesn’t need you coming along and screwing things up for her.”
“I’m not going to, I swear. You know me better than that.”
“Oh, you’re not? What about when we go back to L.A. and she’s heartbroken? I swore I’d never let anyone do that to her again.”
“She told me about her exes.”
“She did?”
“Yeah, she told me they cheated on her. I would never hurt her like that. Come on, man, I’m not that much of an asshole.”
He drops his elbows on the table, raking his hands through his hair. “I can’t get my head around it. The other women? She told me she already knew you from your work?”
“Yeah, I was pretty shocked at that, too. And I’m positive she doesn’t want us talking aboutthateither.” I glance over his shoulder to keep an eye out for her. “As for the other women, that’s not how any of it works. Bro, I’ve told you, if you have questions about my work, I’ll answer them. Just not right now, she’s coming back. Are we good?”
“I guess so,” he shrugs, but I get the feeling I have a long way to go to smooth things over with him.
“Good, because your friendship means a lot to me, man. I don’t want to lose you over this, but I won’t lose her either.”
Hannah looks gorgeous, ducking her way around a group of guys with a tray of beers in her hands. “Look who I found.” Kayla tags behind her and drops four tequila shots onto the table.
“Let’s celebrate you two finally being out in the open, shall we?” She hops up onto the barstool next to Ryan and slides shots towards each of us.
“You knew?” Ryan says, eyes wide, leaning away from her.
“Er yeah. Look at them,” she says, jabbing her thumb at us across the table. “I knew the second I laid eyes on him they were hot for each other. God Ryan, you’re such a dumbass. How did you not notice?”
“I must have been too busy looking at you.” He grabs her stool, dragging it closer to his side. Kayla yelps, holding on tightly so she doesn’t fall off.
“We thought we were being subtle,” Hannah says, sniffing her tequila and gagging a little.
“Please, you were not. I saw you kissing on the slopes while I was teaching the other day. And holding hands at the parade.”
Speaking of hands, Hannah’s is much too far from mine, and I grab it, lifting it to press a kiss to her knuckles. Ryan grunts across from me and Hannah sighs heavily. “Stop that. We’re both adults. We don’t need your permission to do what we want.”
“I just don’t see this ending in anything but disaster. You live thousands of miles apart.”
“Ryan, stop being such a little shit,” Kayla says, smacking his thigh playfully. “Some people don’t need to be together all the time. You should know that better than anyone.”
“I like this girl,” I say, pointing a finger in her direction. “She’s smart.”
“To long distance lovers,” she cheers. She throws back her shot, and we do the same.
A few drinks, a few rounds of cards, and a lot of laughs later, things are feeling better. Lighter. Normal, even.
Hannah has migrated to my lap, and I hold her close, both arms around her waist, my thumb stroking gently at her hip as she and Kayla reminisce about friends that have come and gone over the years.
Kayla is a sweetheart. I can tell she’s good for Ryan, and I feel like a shitty friend when I realise he’s probably mad at me because he gets it. He knows all too well how rough it is to live far away from someone who means the world to you. He’d never mentioned her before this trip, but I can see there’s something deep between them that can’t be easy to ignore when they’re apart.
Soon the bartender calls for last orders and we drink up.
“Are you coming back to mine?” Kayla says, booping Ryan on the nose.
“Yup,” Ryan says, hopping off his stool to help her into her coat.
Outside, Kayla hugs us goodbye, Ryan gives me a fist bump, and then it’s just me and my girl. She looks up at me, wiggling the two sledges in her hand. “Are you sure you want to do this again?”
