Page 50 of Told You So
“She’s—we’re—” I don’t know where to start, exactly. “Ever since New Year’s, things have been complicated.”
Mac snorts. “Things’vealwaysbeen complicated between you.”
I lift an eyebrow.
“Sorry. That’s not helpful. Continue.” She clasps her hands together and sets them in her lap for dramatics.
“Fine then, more complicated than usual,” I revise. “Except, I realize now that everything that’s happened over the years is way more complicated than I thought—so many assumptions.”
“Oh?”
I nod. “The high school party, Denny’s, our run-ins over the years. I don’t even know what other stories she has in her mind that keep her at a distance all the time. She has so many walls,” I realize.
“Trying to get along, I get,” Mac says. “But, you seem very concerned with her letting you in all of the sudden.” She leans closer. “Which means you’ve invested something,” she says slowly, like she’s working out the kinks—filling in the holes. “You really like her all of the sudden—wait, did you guys kiss?”
When I don’t say anything, her eyes widen. “You kissed her?” I can’t tell if Mac is amused or horrified.
“Well, yeah. It sorta just happened. I stopped it, though, so it’s not like it went further than that.”
Mac squeezes her eyes shut. “Hold on a sec. You kissed her and then put a stop to it, and now you don’t understand why she’s putting up walls?”
I look at her dumbly. “Well, yeah. I guess.”
She chuckles again, more animated this time, like she knows a secret as she massages the bottom of her foot. “This is where guys and girls are clearly different. IfIwere at a guy’s house and he kissed me, then pushed me away, I’d put up a few walls, too. I’d likely take it personally and feel rejected, especially if he didn’t take the time to explainwhyhe kissed me and then pushed me away.” Her eyes meet mine.
I want to tell Mac that I put more thought into my reaction, but the truth is, I didn’t. It was honest and it just came out the way it did, whatever it was I said.
When I don’t say anything, Mac leans forward, her gaze leveled on me. “Look, Nick, you said yourself, you have a history with Bethany. And, in reality, you barely know her. You need to be friends before you screw things up worse than they already are by jumping into something that could blow up in your face, permanently this time.” She pauses. “You need to trust each other so that you’re no longer operating on the misunderstandings of the past.”
She lets her words sink in for a minute, but I already know Mac’s right. It’s one of the downfalls of not having a sibling as a sounding board and always relying on my friends to talk me through everything. Getting out of my head helps me to see everything differently.
“This is what happened between Colton and me,” she continues. “You saw what a shit-show it was. We totally missed the friends-first step, and the first six-plus months we knew each other were based on assumptions, and bad ones, at that. I’m now one hundred percent pro friends-first. And I know you, your feelings for her aren’t going to fade until you’ve exhausted them. They’ve been percolating too long. So, you might as well embrace it, but just be smart. You’ve got the perfect opportunity with this whole project situation, especially if she’s trying to keep her distance. Take your time. Get to know each other. You owe it to yourself so that you can move the fuck on if it doesn’t work out in the end and you can say you actually tried.”
Mac’s right. Mac is always right about these things, just like she was right about Sam and Reilly needing each other again to move on with their lives. I won’t be able to let whatever exists between Bethany and me go until I know what it actually is.
“So, what are you going to do?” she asks.
“Try to be friends,” I say. “Make a grand gesture.” Though, I don’t even know where to start.
Twenty-Five
Bethany
I’m putting a fresh load of laundry in the washing machine, when I hear the doorbell. “Jesse, can you get that please!” I shout toward the living room. “It’s probably Mrs. Franklin, picking up the Goodwill from Mom.” I pour the detergent into the tray and listen as Jesse barrels down the stairs. “The bag is by the door!”
Slamming the washer shut, I press the digital timer and head back into the kitchen to wash my hands.
“Hey, kid.” Nick’s familiar voice carries in from the doorway, and my heart skips a beat.
“Hi,” Jesse replies, and I hear the door shut. “My sister’s in the kitchen.”
“Cool. Nice digs you guys got here.”
“It’s all right.” Jesse’s voice is so small compared to Nick’s, and I watch them in the foyer.
The fact that Nick is in my house is strange, and part of me wonders if I should be angry that he assumed he could show up uninvited, especially after what happened the other day. He knows I want to focus on this partnership. But another, bigger part of me is surprisingly grateful he came by. Especially after I had to cancel and didn’t think I was going to see him tonight.
“How’d you know where we lived?” Jesse asks as they step into the kitchen.
