Page 51 of It Could Happen
“Don’t make excuses for her, Tori,” Leslie snaps. “You don’t know how she can be—you haven’t been around that long.”
“All right, everyone, calm down,” Andy interjects.
“Yeah, we’re still on vacation,” Tyler adds.
“I agree,” Matt says, holding up his beer.
Leslie glares at me, and I do an internal eye roll. I refuse to stoop to her level.
Caroline and Rachel finally return to the table, but the tension has reached peak levels. Casual conversation continues until we finish eating. Erica asks Christian if they can leave. Rachel also excuses herself a few minutes later. Then Caroline, Andy, and Clint get up, leaving Tyler, Leslie, Matt, and me still seated at the table.
“Well, this place cleared out quickly,” Matt says. “Was it something I said?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Tyler agrees.
Leslie leans in and whispers something in Tyler’s ear. He smiles and lets out a laugh. She’s relentless.
“I think there’s a comedy show tonight,” Matt suggests. “Should we check it out?”
I shrug. “Sure.”
Leslie continues to talk to Tyler in a low whisper.
“We’ll meet you there in a little while,” Leslie says.
“We’re going to check on Andy and Caroline,” Tyler adds, looking at me.
“Good idea,” I say. “See you there.”
Matt and I head to the theater, while my thoughts are on everyone else.
“That was an interesting dinner,” I say.
He sighs. “Yeah, there’s some tension between Rachel and Erica because of Christian.”
Wait, does he know?
“We all think Rachel has a thing for Christian. He tries to blow it off, but it’s pretty obvious the way she looks at him.”
Ugh. Why am I the only one who knows the truth?
“You’d think she’d get over it by now,” he adds. “He’s unavailable.”
I nod silently. I guess he doesn’t realize that his friend Christian is a jerk.
A few seconds later the lights dim, and the show begins. The comedian is very entertaining, and as I expected, Tyler and Leslie never show up.
After the show, I give Matt a hug and tell him I need to head to my cabin to pack up. His face falls slightly, but he doesn’t say anything.
When I return to the cabin, Rachel is lying on the top bunk, reading a book.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m great. We’re almost home.”
I smile. “I feel the same way.”
I start packing, and Leslie doesn’t return before I crawl into bed. I try not to think about the possibility that she and Tyler are hanging out together right now. Why does the thought of this bother me? Maybe our flirty banter is winning me over after all.
