Page 38 of Told You So
“No, I said he wasn’t myboy toy. There’s a difference.”
“Not to me—not then, anyway.”
All I can do is shrug. “Well, it was the truth. I don’t know what to tell you. So, you can get over me and the Mike thing, because it wasn’t a bright, sunny spot in my past either.” I try not to dwell on just how dark of a time it was for me. “I did a lot of things I regret then, but being ahomewrecker, as Mac would call me, wasn’t one of them.”
Nick’s eyes don’t leave mine, but I’m not sure if he’s really looking at me or if he’s thinking. Eventually, his eyes refocus on me. “So, you think all of this is about Mike?” he asks, almost incredulous, and I bristle a bit more.
“It’s definitely part of the problem,” I admit. “But no, Sam and Mac have been giving me death-stares longer than that. Probably before high school even—”
“Yeah—I’d say after I tried to help you, and you blew me off. You blew me off at Anna Marie’s party junior year, too, only that time you decided to run off with that running back, Hillard or Hill—”
“Hilman, and I didn’t blow you off, Nick. You were being an ass.”
“What?” He sits forward on the couch. “You’re going to somehow turn this around on me?”
“Hell yes, I am. The last thing I wanted to be was the ‘hot freshman’on your list of locker room conquest stories. Sorry to thwart your plans,Turner. I’d expected it from Slinsky, but not from you.”
Nick laughs, but it’s an incredulous, overly amused laugh. “Slinsky? That was aboutSlinsky?” He stands up and begins pacing. “Let me get this straight, you ditched me because ofhim?”
I rub my hands over my face, feeling this conversation spiraling too quickly into dangerous territory. “Why are we even talking about this,” I groan. “Nick, none of this matters anymore. We have a project we need to work on.”
“Oh, it matters,” he bites out, more exasperated and surprised than I’d anticipated. “Wow. I mean—wow.”
“Will you stop saying that, please.”
“You disappeared to make out withHilmanbecause of something Slinsky said?”
“I didn’t disappear to go make out with him, Nick. I was angry—it just happened.”
“Oh, well, in that case I forgive you,” he says hotly. “I can’t believe you thought I would tell Slinskyanything,” He walks over to the sliding glass door and stares out at the balcony.
“And New Year’s—I helped you find your brother and you ditched me at Denny’s.”
“Give me a break, Nick! Yourgirlfriendcalled.”
“What? You mean, Savannah?”
Rolling my eyes, I inhale a deep breath. “Yes, of course, Savannah. The whole town knows you guys are together.”
He smiles, like all of this is simply too amusing for him not to. “She and I haven’t been together for months. She moved away and now, we’re just friends.” But the waffle in his voice tells me he’s not one hundred percent certain about that.
“I saw you guys together on Tuesday, Nick. Even if you’re not ‘together’ you’re stilltogether.”
His frown returns.
“Look, Nick. We could go back and forth about all the other instances too, or we can try to forget about it all and focus.” I’m not sure why, but what’s happened or hasn’t happened between Nick and I over the years feels unexpectedly raw. Especially now that I know what he’s thought of me all these years.
“Well,” Nick breathes. “This is all very...enlightening.”
“I told you we should’ve stayed on topic. Now it’s just going to be weird.”
He makes a self-deprecating sound and grabs his phone. “I’ll call Sam.” He reaches for the sliding door handle then spins around. “Do me a favor, would you?”
I peer up at him, into eyes darkened by more emotion than I expect.
“Don’t assume I’m like Mike or Slinsky, or any of the asshole guys you’ve dated, okay? You’ll be wrong one hundred percent of the time.”
Eighteen
