Page 131 of Just Friends
Paulina jumped in before I could say anything. “Seeing as it’sourland now,” she corrected him, “we’ll pretty much do whatever the hell we want with it. But I can tell you what wewon’tbe doing with it, and that’s spraying glyphosate on a day when it’s too damn windy to spray.”
Nate hemmed and hawed. “C’mon, Paulina. You know that wasn’tourfault. We just rented the land out, we weren’t the ones driving the sprayer.”
“Two years in a row, Nate,” she said. “You could’ve put a stop to it if you cared enough, but you didn’t.”
Nate shrugged as if to say,what do you want me to do about it now?
“Anyway, I’m starting to get a blister. Later.” Paulina dropped her hoe and marched back to the yurt.
Nate waited until she was out of earshot. “Yikes. Sorry if I worded something wrong. I really do feel bad about what happened to your guys’ crops. If it were up to me, it never would’ve happened.”
I shrugged. “Oh well. It won’t be a problem anymore.”
An awkward silence came over the three of us. I glanced at the fifteen feet of row that still needed to be hoed, a hint that Nate should go.
He had other ideas. “Abi, hon, you mind if I talk with Piper alone? I’ve gotta talk some business with her.”
“Um, okay, sure,” she said meekly. “I guess I’ll wait in the car.”
Nate stared at his girlfriend’s ass as she cut back through the garden, carefully stepping over the rows, trying not to get any dirt in her shoes.
“Sweet little thing, ain’t she?” Nate murmured to me. “Nineteen years old, Piper. You could bounce a quarter off that ass.Hoo-wee.”
I snickered. “Are you trying to make me jealous, Nate?”
His face twisted into an expression of shock. “What? No. Course not.” After a moment’s pause, the facade wore off, and an ornery grin slowly took its place. “Hell, I dunno—maybe I am. Why, is it working?”
I stared at him. I was in total awe that I’d once found this man attractive. I’d once wanted to start a family with him, for heaven’s sake.
“Not atall,” I said at last.
“Aw, hell,” he said. “Abi’s great, though. Good little girl.” He shook his head and turned to stare at me, his eyes serious. “Tell you the truth, though? I’d give her up in aminutejustto be with you again.”
EW,I thought, but I didn’t say a word.
“I miss you so damn much, Piper-bear. Your lovin’ was so sweet. I’m tellin’ you, I’ve been with a lot of girls, andnothin’out there can even come close to comparin’ with you.Nothin’.” He slyly gestured at his car, where his poor girlfriend waited alone. “Not even that. In the prime of her life, nineteen years old, and she don’t even comecloseto you.”
“That poor girl.” My face soured. “You’re revolting, Nate. You haven’t changed at all, have you?”
“I’m not that bad,” he said, pinned his fists to his hips indignantly. “And really, is it any surprise I’m still all stuck on you, all these years later? Hell, you never even gave me achance.”
I gave a somber shake of my head. “You had your chance. You had myheart, Nate, but you wanted to see what else was out there, remember? Well, there you go—you reap what you sow.”
“But we made a pact,” he whined.
“What’d you expect me to say? I only agreed to that because I felt like Ihadto.”
He grumbled.
I continued, “Besides, the pact was that we’d get back togetherifwe didn’t end up with someone else first. And Ididfind someone else.”
“Shit,” he huffed. “So you’reseriouslygonna marry that hockey player, huh?”
“Seriously,” I said.
“Psh.” He tossed his head and stared into the distance. “That’s such bullshit and you know it. Only reason you want him is ’cause he’s rich, ’cause he could afford to buy up all our land.”
“Is that what you think?” I snickered. “Jax didn’t lend me a single cent for that land. I bought it with myownhard-earned money, thank you very much.”
