Page 15 of All Your Tomorrows

He pegged me with narrowed eyes. “What did the last guy you dated do to you to make you swear off guys?”

“Who said I’ve sworn off guys?”

“You said they’re all trouble. Same thing.”

I scoffed, surprised he picked up on that. “He cheated with someone I thought was a friend.”

“Harsh,” he said. “How’d you find out?”

“You sure you wanna hear? It’s a pretty pathetic story.”

“Tell me,” he urged.

I exhaled a long breath. “Izzy, Zoe, and I were supposed to go shopping. Zoe backed out last minute to take her mom to the doctor, so Izzy and I decided to go to the beach instead. I walked up to the boardwalk to get food, and boom. Zoe was there kissing my boyfriend.”

“What’d you do?”

“Toldherwe were done and punchedhimin the face.”

Kyler’s mouth parted. “No way?”

“Way. And it hurt.” I looked down at my hand. “My knuckles were swollen for a week.”

“You’re a badass,” he said.

“Not really. I was just pissed.”

“Did it make you feel better?” he asked.

I considered his question and all the pain I’d suffered due to their betrayal. Then, I shook my head. “They made it hard to trust people. I trustedthemand they stabbed me in the back. Not to mention, they ruined the beach for me. And I really loved the beach.”

“I’m sorry they did that to you. They suck.”

“I can’t really complain about my life right now, can I?” I said, knowing his life was currently in shambles.

“Don’t do that. Our lives can all suck. They just suck in different ways.”

“That’s optimistic,” I teased.

“I’m all about spreading the optimism over here,” he laughed.

Once his laughter subsided and was replaced with the crackling from the fireplace, I said, “Seriously, what sucks for you—and don’t say the obvious being caught between two worlds thing?”

“Not eating.”

“That would suck,” I said, forgetting that he couldn’t eat anymore. “What do you miss most?”

“Peanut butter,” he said without even thinking about it.

“Of everything out there—pizza, burgers, ice cream—you miss peanut butter?”

“Yup, and I’m not even sorry about it.”

I laughed. “What are you happy you’ll never have to eat again?”

“Mushrooms and onions. I hate them.”

I laughed. “Why?”

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