Page 2 of Cold Snap
Well, shit! Time to put my money where my mouth is and figure out how not to make an ass of myself in front of the man whom I would die for and who doesn’t even realize I lied to him about something I thought he knew. Maybe it will take away the pain of not being known like I want to be.
Chapter Two
TerryTeresa
The next morning, I woke up with a headache that made my eyelids hurt. How the hell does that even happen? Three glasses of whiskey and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it home, but somehow, I got a cab to take me to my best friend’s place. I look around but Oakley is nowhere to be found. She must be up making breakfast or trying to explain to her mother why my drunk ass came crashing in at two in the morning, asking to sleep over.
I get up and fight back the taste of regret in my mouth. When I walk into the living room, it’s not to find my best friend banging away in the kitchen; instead, she’s sitting with her…boyfriend, Tommy. The loser.
“I just…don’t think this is working out for me. I need something you just aren’t giving me.”
“What?”
“Excitement for one. I need someone who isn’t a lame fuck, you know? Someone who just gets me. Someone who will give me a blow job as we drive down Main Street.”
What a shit! I fight with myself and try to give them space. The last thing I want to do is try to control or manipulate my bestfriend -even if her taste in men is awful. I told that fucker if he broke Oakley’s heart, I would rearrange his face. She’s not like me. She’s sweet and innocent and…good. She doesn’t flirt with every guy she knows; she doesn’t get drunk or hang out with men twice her age. She doesn’t pine over men like I pine over the big bar owner whose stole my heart.
When she finds the right man, she’s going to be true to him, and they are going right to the chapel. It will be beautiful, and I will be there for every moment…well, not every moment. She’s my best friend, I don’t want to see it all! And it isn’t going to be with this loser.
“I’m not giving you a blow job.”
I cover my mouth at the giggle that bubbles up. By the way she says it, she isn’t just talking about while driving down Main Street. She means ever!
“Yeah, well, I need a woman who can take all of me, and that doesn’t seem to be you, so it’s over!”
“All because I wouldn’t go dancing with you last night and don’t want to give you a blow job in a moving car?”
“There are other things! But those are important to me, and if you loved me, they would be important to you too.”
Gaslighting bastard!
“I…don’t know what to say, Tommy. I…need time to get to know you.”
“It’s over, Oakley. You had a good thing, and you lost it. Unless you want to give me a kiss goodbye.”
“No, I don’t! I want you to leave! I can’t believe you would ask for a kiss as you're dumping me, you…creep!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t get all emotional on me! Dramatic much. Look, if you…”
The door slams on whatever he was saying, shutting the flow of bullshit off before it got any deeper. When I step out of the shadows, though, I see how upset she is.
“I suppose you heard.” Tears stand in her eyes, and she looks just miserable.
“I did. You want me to kill him for you, sweetheart?”
She shakes her head without a moment of hesitation. She realizes I’d do it for her just like I know she’d do it for me.
“I’m upset…hurt even, but not over Tommy. Over the fact that I just lost my first boyfriend before I could do more than kiss. I’m upset that…I’m never going to find that perfect guy!”
She falls into me, and I walk us over to the couch, where we both flop down. I let her cry for however long she needs. I understand. Maybe better than she realizes, since I probably won’t ever have that kind of love either. The man I love doesn’t even know how old I am after all. The thought sits like a stone inside of me, always felt and forever weighing me down.
“It’s the idea that you’re mourning.”
She nods.
“You know what we need?”
“A girls’ night with a carton of chocolate chip ice cream each and our jammies and that movie about sisters being there for one another.”
