Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
EVE
“ P lease come,” Mary pleads.
“I don’t know,” I hedge, poking at a tomato with my fork. “Won’t it be…weird?”
Mary shakes her head emphatically. “It won’t be weird. You said you and Ben are on good terms.”
“We’re…” I drop my fork and sigh. “We’re not on bad terms. But we’re…it’s different now.”
“I know,” Mary says sympathetically. “But that doesn’t mean?—”
“Hey, babe. Eve.” David Morrison takes the seat next to Mary, kissing her cheek before stealing a potato chip from her plate.
“Hi, David,” I greet.
Mary elbows her boyfriend when he steals another chip from her plate. “Go get your own lunch.”
“Can’t. I’ve got class in—” David checks his watch. “Eight minutes.”
“I was just telling Eve about the plan for Saturday night.”
“Oh, yeah? Cool. Should be fun.”
“And Eve should come, right?” Mary presses.
David glances at me. “Uh, yep. Definitely.”
His response isn’t very convincing. But I can’t tell if it’s because David doesn’t care whether I go or not or because he thinks Ben will care. I’m friendly with David, more so since he and Mary started dating, but he’s definitely Ben’s friend, not mine.
David looks at his watch again, curses, and then stands. “I gotta run. See you later, babe.” He kisses Mary, then nods toward me. “Nice to see you, Eve.”
I muster a smile. “Yeah, you too.”
As soon as David walks away, Mary leans forward. “See?”
“Uh-huh. He’s obviously missed me at movie nights.”
Mary rolls her eyes. “Well, I want you there. We haven’t hung out since before break.”
“We’re hanging out right now,” I point out.
“We’re eating lunch. I’m talking about sneaking cheap wine into the theater and listening to the guys go on about film angles while we pretend to care about anything except the shirtless-guy scenes.”
My smile comes naturally this time. So does a twinge of nostalgia. “I’ll think about it.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” I say, then take a bite of salad.
“Hey! I thought that was you.”
Rylan appears out of nowhere, stopping right beside our table and smiling at me.
“Hi!” I reply, standing to give her a quick hug. “How are you?”
I haven’t seen Rylan since we left California. Seeing her now is an unexpected reminder that spring break happened. As this week has gone by, that trip has felt further and further away.
“Good,” she answers cheerfully. “Just grabbing lunch.”
“Do you want to sit with us?” I offer.
“I’d love to, but I can’t. I have class in a few minutes. It’s at the worst time, but at least the professor lets students bring food. Hunter’s saving my spot in line. I just saw you and wanted to say hi.”
I glance toward the two cash registers. I recognize Hunter’s broad shoulders immediately. He’s turned, talking to the girl in line behind him.
My stomach lurches unpleasantly when I recognize Holly Johnson. Is she why he disappeared at Gaffney’s on Tuesday? The main reason I tagged along when Harlow said she was going to meet Conor at the local bar was because I thought Hunter would be there. And he was, allegedly, although I never saw him. For a guy who made a point of telling me he was single, he lost interest awfully fast.
“I didn’t realize you and Hunter had a class together.”
Rylan nods. “Some of my credits from BU didn’t transfer, so I’m having to retake a few courses outside of my major. I sort of avoided Hunter at first, when I realized he was on the hockey team, but you know how that ended. Thank God, because he’s the main reason I’m passing the class.” She smiles, then glances at Mary. “Hi! I’m Rylan.”
“Oh, sorry,” I say, belatedly realizing I never made introductions. “Mary, this is Rylan. Rylan, Mary.”
Mary smiles back at Rylan. “Nice to meet you. Are you talking about Hunter Morgan ?”
Something about the awed way Mary emphasizes Hunter’s name makes me want to scowl. I didn’t realize her interest in athletes extended beyond basketball players.
“Sure am,” Rylan replies. “Do you know him?”
Mary shakes her head. “No. He just…he lived on my floor freshman year. I’ve kinda had a crush on him ever since.”
“You have a boyfriend,” I remind Mary.
“I can still look,” she retorts.
“I thought you swore off athletes after Clayton Thomas.”
Rylan laughs. “Hunter’s nothing like the guys on the basketball team. Eve knows.”
Mary looks to me, eyebrows raised. As much as I like Rylan, I start to wish she’d never come over here.
Rylan glances toward the café. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll text you, Eve.” She smiles at Mary, then hurries back toward the cash registers.
I pick up my soda. “Did you see?—”
“What did ‘Eve knows’ mean?”
Guess we’re sticking with this topic.
I shrug, then take a sip. “He’s a nice guy.”
“Which you know because…”
“What does it matter?”
“I just didn’t know you hung out with that crowd.”
“What crowd?” I question.
“ That crowd . The popular jocks.”
“Um, you’re the one who went bowling with Clayton Thomas and Conor Hart.”
Mary waves a dismissive hand in my direction. “Yeah, only because you talked Harlow into setting it up. I didn’t know you knew those guys. Or Hunter Morgan .”
“Stop saying his name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like he’s some type of celebrity.”
“Um, what school do you go to? He is a celebrity on campus.”
I make a vague sound and shove a large bite of salad into my mouth. We’ve been friends since sophomore year, and I have never heard Mary mention Hunter’s name before. And, frankly, this timing couldn’t be worse.
“So, how do you know?” she persists.
“Know what?”
“You said you know Hunter isn’t a jerk. How do you know?”
I sigh. “Because we spent spring break together, and he was perfectly nice the entire time.”
Since then, though…
I shove the thought far away. He was nice to me while we were stuck on vacation together. And a few conversations didn’t mean he needed to hurry over to say hi to me at Gaffney’s. It’s possible he never even realized I was there. But I wanted him to notice I was there.
Mary gasps. “You did ?”
“Yeah. I told you Harlow invited me.”
“Yeah. Harlow . You didn’t mention anyone else.”
“Oh. Well…” I take another bite of salad. “Conor and his friends were there too.”
“And?”
“And Rylan. She’s dating one of Conor’s teammates.”
“ Details , Eve. What did you guys do? Let me live vicariously.”
“Uh, let’s see. I got drunk off tequila shots, kissed a surfer named Finn, and then threw up in the bushes in front of everyone. How’s that for details?”
“Oh, Eve.” Mary’s curiosity has morphed into sympathy.
“Yeah. It’s fine. I’d had a shitty few days and needed to blow off some steam. I’m all good now.”
She glances down and plays with her chips, clearly contemplating saying something.
“Spit it out,” I tell her.
“Are you—do you—is there a chance you and Ben will get back together?”
“No,” I answer firmly.
“Maine isn’t that far from New York. You guys could make it work.”
“It’s not a question of geography. It’s…we weren’t right together.”
“What are you talking about? You guys were perfect together.”
“No.” I shake my head. “We weren’t.”
If Ben told David what happened with Rowan, it doesn’t seem like he mentioned it to Mary. I doubt Mary would be asking at all if she knew that Ben mourned our breakup by sleeping with his best friend.
Mary bites her bottom lip. “Are you sure you’re not just saying that because you’re…upset about everything?”
“I’m sure,” I assure her. “I’m—I’m not in love with him, Mary. And honestly, I’m not sure if I ever really was. I loved him, but not the way I should have. I never got giddy around Ben. I never lay awake at night and replayed our conversations. When we broke up, my first thought was about New York and how our plan had become my plan.”
Mary bites her bottom lip. “I just want you to be happy, Eve. I understand things feel different now, after what happened, but think about this weekend, okay? We only have so much time left, and you never know. Maybe things will work out if you spend more time together.”
I nod, because that’s simpler than telling Mary the reason I’m certain Ben and I will never get back together.
The reason I’m second-guessing if I’ve ever been in love.
The reason that’s following Rylan out of the café.