Chapter 31
ALLY
Quietly tiptoeing out of Lucas’s room once he finally falls asleep, I quickly shut his bedroom door, praying that he doesn’t wake back up and ask me for another book. I don’t have the heart to tell him no, but I also don’t have it in me to read a fourth story.
He’s just so damn cute, and when he looks up at me with his big doe eyes, doing his best please face, I can’t say no.
Especially when he’s asking me to read another book.
I love that he loves reading and hearing different stories.
It was my favorite when I was growing up, so it makes me smile that we have this in common.
Creeping down the hallway towards the stairs, I freeze when I hear people talking—a woman’s voice I’d never heard before filtering up the stairs.
What the fuck?
Stepping closer, I’m doing my best not to be heard by Lucas or whoever’s downstairs with Cooper. I listen, my heart hurting when I hear the pain in the woman’s voice. She’s heartbroken.
“… waited for you for years. Waiting for you to pull your head out of your ass and stop gallivanting around the country and just be with me. But no…”
That’s all I could hear. Slipping back to Cooper’s room, I quietly go find my purse, knowing I’m leaving my other stuff here, but I don’t care as I rush down the stairs and slip out his back door to the patio, going the back way to my car. I need to get out of here, now.
Did I really fuck up, again?
Did I really come in and break up another happy relationship?
What’s wrong with me that I either attract assholes or fall for people who are someone else’s happy ending? Am I just destined to be a bad person?
Grabbing my keys, I unlock my door, tossing my purse on the passenger seat.
I hop in and immediately turn the car on to at least get away from his house.
The fear of one of them coming out here and me having to talk to them is enough to have my foot pressing down on the gas a little harder as I speed down his driveway.
As soon as I get around the corner, I pull over to the side and grab my phone, pulling up my aunt and uncle’s text thread. I want to text Quinn, but at the same time, I don’t want to bother her with my problems, especially on a night that I know she had plans.
Me: Hi. Bad night.
Me: Can I come over?
Uncle: Anytime, sweetheart. The door’s unlocked.
Uncle: Are you okay?
Aunt: Of course, sweetie. You don’t even need to ask.
Aunt: Cookies are in the oven.
Setting my phone down, I head back down the road, turning on the radio in hopes of drowning out my thoughts as I start to pull out onto the road. I don’t even really start driving before flashing lights show up in my rear-view mirror.
Fuck. Could tonight get any worse?
I pull over to the side of the road, put it in park and turn on the light, before rolling down my windows.
The moments between getting pulled over and the officer actually coming to the window to talk to you always feel like an eternity, my heart racing the entire time as I wonder what I could’ve possibly done.
“Hello, miss, I’m Officer Bennett” the officer says as he finally makes his way to the window, and when I look up and say hi, his eyes are the first thing I recognize.
Tilting my head to the side, I look at him, trying to place him, but it takes me a moment.
“Do I know you?” he asks, and for some reason that does it.
He’s the officer from The Penalty Box, the one who saw everything with Wilson the other night.
“I—I think we met at the bar…The Penalty Box, you saw me talking to my ex. He was…not very nice,” I say, watching as his eyes widen, recognition filling his face.
“That’s right. I knew it had to be something,” he says, looking around the area, his eyes watching the road. “I was just driving down the road and saw a car pulled over and wanted to check in, make sure everything was okay.”
“Thank you, sir, I’m okay. Pulled over to make a phone call. I was just about to head out to my aunt’s house.”
“Okay, miss, you have a good evening, okay? Stay safe though; you shouldn’t be in dark areas alone, especially not when it’s getting late at night,” he says as he taps twice on my bar, the words sounding ominous, but I don’t think anything of it, just head on over to my aunt’s.
I barely even remember the drive or how I get inside their house, but the next thing I know, I’m on the couch with my aunt hugging me while I cry—for the first time in years. To the point that I can’t even get words out.
“Sweetie, I’m going to need you to take a deep breath,” she finally says, his words quiet, steady as she rubs my back, holding me while I practically hyperventilate. “I need to know what happened. If I don’t know, I can’t help.”
“I know…I just…I can’t…stop,” I tell her, trying to catch my breath, but fuck, I can’t stop crying. I can’t stop being so mad at myself for doing this again.
“Yes, you can, sweet girl,” I hear my uncle’s voice as he walks into the room with what smells like tea. “Take a deep breath and tell us what happened? Did that Wilson fucker do something to you? Because I swear to fuck—” he starts, and I let out a huff of a laugh.
“This has nothing to do with him, I promise,” I say, his little tirade about my ex making me stop crying long enough to take a deep breath. “I fell for someone I shouldn’t have. But someone else loves him, and I ruined it.”
I can’t even finish the last word before I sob, tears streaming down my face as I remember how distraught she sounded. How heartbroken Kenna was that she loved him. I ruined their story, something I told myself I would never do again.
“What are you talking about? Who? Who loves who?”
“Kenna!” I say, dramatically, another sob slipping through as I pull back from my aunt.
“Who’s Kenna?”
Just as another sob breaks free—after spilling everything, how I fell for Cooper, how I love his son more than I ever thought I could, and how I bolted after hearing Kenna confess her love—the front door opens, the sound freezing me in place.
Who is here?
I look up, peeling myself back from my aunt to see Quinn walking towards me, collapsing on top of me in a big bear hug.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to get you, silly,” she says, squeezing me tight.
“But why?”
“Because Uncle Ronnie sees tears and immediately calls back up. He’s always been that way,” Quinn says with a laugh, one our aunt agrees with.
“You’re not wrong; he has always been this way,” my aunt says with a little laugh as my uncle shakes his head and walks back to the kitchen.
“Quinn might be on to something though. Maybe you girls need to get out of here, go chat and figure out life, and maybe, just maybe, things aren’t as bad as they seem right now. ”
“I…I’ll go, but I disagree. I think they are just as bad as they seem right now. Or worse,” I pout, as Quinn stands up, her hand outstretched for me. “You mean right now? I’m still in mid breakdown.”
“Yup, it’s time to go, sister. We’re having a girls’ night and yap time,” Quinn says as she grabs my hand, trying to pull me up from the couch.
“No, just let me rot,” I say, pulling back against her as I try to melt back into the couch. Maybe it’ll just swallow me, take me out of my misery.
“Ally, go. It’s a good idea for you two to talk, maybe she can help you through this,” my uncle says cautiously, having stayed out of our relationship since the last time Quinn yelled at him for it.
“Fine. But only if you get me ice cream,” I pout, letting her pull me up. “I’ll text you guys.”
“Let’s go,” she says, rolling her eyes at me, but she’s laughing as she turns towards our aunt and uncle. “We’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Love you girls,” my aunt says, giving us both a quick hug, whispering in my ear as she gives me an extra squeeze. “It’ll all be okay. You just have to believe and sometimes hold out a little. Running isn’t always the answer if you haven’t had a conversation first.”
“Love you,” I tell her, wiping away a stupid tear.
Where’s my black heart? I miss it.
“Bye, girls; love you,” my uncle says waving us off as he finishes up in the kitchen. Probably just inhaling more cookies.
“You know I was serious about the ice cream, right?” I say as Quinn and I walk towards her car. My phone is turned off and securely in my hand, like somehow it’ll magically ring and Cooper will call me and it’ll all be okay.
But that’s crazy, and he shouldn’t call me. She loves him, and they have history, and that’s not something I want to get in the middle of.
“If you think I don’t have at least six pints in my freezer at all times, you’re crazy. I need variety in my life. I’m not good with just vanilla,” she says with a wink.
“I’ve heard.” I laugh, knowing damn well she’s everything but vanilla, which I love for her.
I’m learning I might be a little less vanilla than I thought—but that was with Cooper. Without Cooper, I don’t know what I’ll be. I’m sure I’ll find strength to try again. I learned with Cooper, so I can learn with someone else.
Deep down, I know that’s a lie. I learned with Cooper because I trusted him, and the way I trusted him isn’t something I think I’ll ever experience again.
For all I know, it’ll take another twenty-eight years until I’m blessed with someone who understands my body.
“Get in. Let’s go cry it out and figure out what to do. Nothing some ice cream and Dirty Dancing can’t fix. The movie, not actual dancing.”
I smile as I climb in her car, even though deep down my heart hurts. It’s hard not to see a little bright spot in this situation as Quinn and I drive off together.
It feels…normal. Like we’re finally okay, and that gives me the little bit of hope that I need.