Page 16 of Leave Before I Love You
That’s all he says, and to be honest, I’m glad. The last thing I want to hear is Henry waxing poetic about some other woman. It’s not like I have any propriety over him, but…there’s always beensomething.
As we walk in silence, I hold the breadfruit in front of my chest and imagine myself as Pamela Anderson. My breasts are trinkets compared to hers, and I’ve always wondered what I’d look like with bigger ones.
“Your boobs are fine the way they are,” Henry surprises me by saying, clearly having noticed my little exercise.
“I didn’t ask you.”
“You’re right. But they’re still fine.”
“Well, fine and luscious are two different things, and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have the latter.”
“From what I hear, the main themes are ill-fitting clothes and back pain.”
“What?”
“Every woman I’ve ever been with who had big breasts did nothing but complain about them. As a guy, they’re hot, but I imagine as a woman, they’re a giant pain in the ass.”
“I guess you would know. You’ve been with enough women.”
Henry laughs. “Yeah. I have. Which is why you should take me seriously when I tell you that you don’t need to change a damn thing.” He looks me dead in the eyes. “You’re a smokeshow. Just like you are.”
A blush steals across my cheeks as I remember all the times Henry and I have kissed or come close to it in our history. The truth is, it’s not a surprise that he finds me attractive or that I’ve spent the better part of today admiring how he looks without a shirt on.
We’ve been around each other for more years than most people know each other in a lifetime, and for the majority of it, I’ve been well aware of how much of a catch he is.
Henry Callahan hasalwaysbeen good with women. Effortlessly charming, magnetic in a way that made it impossible for people not to be drawn to him. He’s never had to chase—women just seemed to fall into his orbit, like moths to a flame, eager to be the one who finally tamed him.
But Henry never stays.
I’ve watched it happen over and over—beautiful women on his arm, laughing at his jokes, looking at him like he’s their whole world. And then, just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone, replaced by another and another and another.
It’s just how he’s always been.
Never attached. Never tied down. Never keeping anyone for too long.
And yet, here we are. Stranded. Alone. Tangled up in more ways than one.
I remember the exact moment I started watching Henry Callahan a little too closely. The summer I turned thirteen. Thenight Brandon Worley—my first kiss, my first official boyfriend—broke up with me.
That night, I saw Henry differently—like a spark I hadn’t realized was there until it caught.
Because if I’m a smokeshow, Henry Callahan is the whole damn fire.
And I guess…there’s a part of me that hasn’t stopped looking at him since.
The Past
Fourteen years ago
Avery
Brandon Worley’s older brother peels out of my driveway, tires screeching as Brandon sits smugly in the passenger seat, his confession of his crush on that skankapotamus Sarah Philips still fresh in the tears streaking down my face.
Juni is busy tonight, off having a rare dinner with her dad while he’s in town on a layover. As much as I need my best friend, I won’t call her. All she ever talks about is how badly she wants her parents to notice her, and tonight, her dad is at least pretending he has.
So, instead, I’m here. Alone.Humiliated.
Ugh. I hate that I let myself get this attached to someone so stupid so quickly. But after dating Brandon for a whopping month and a half—twice as long as any other eighth grader at school—I really thought we’d be together forever.
