Chapter 27 #2
“I don’t know. I guess we both brushed it off as a one-time, I’ll-see you-at-the-end-of-the-summer type of thing.
” She tucks her freshly cut hair behind her ear.
“We never talked about it afterward. We texted here and there when I was in Korea, but it was all just fun, Robbie-style kind of texts, you know? The ones where he sends me jokes or photos of cute dogs he sees on the street because he knows I like them. Just … random, everyday texts.”
I raise my eyebrows because, knowing Robbie, that leans more on the cutesy side of things, and he’s never really been that guy.
Sending her photos of dogs for Gemma to squeal over?
Come on. He’s infatuated with her at this point.
At least, he’s never seemed the type to get that way with girls.
Always flirty, but never deep. Always keeping them at arm’s length.
As far as I know.
“What?” Gemma says with a nervous laugh.
“Nothing.” I raise my palms like this is a judgment-free space and I’m just here to listen to her testimony. That’s how it’s always been between us.
“I like him,” she says, her demeanor deflating. “I’ve liked him for years now.” She buries her red face in her hands and throws herself back on the bed. “God, I can’t believe I said that out loud.”
“Oh, Gemms,” I say, resting my back on the bed. I lie next to her. Grab her hand.
We’re both staring at the ceiling in silence. Letting it all sink in. The kiss. Her confession. The feelings. The way Robbie looks at her. How sad he’s been since Australia.
The meaning behind it all.
“When Henry came out of Zoya’s room saying he was trying to get Robbie out of there …
I thought the worst. I was so pissed at him because it made me realize how bad I’ve got it for him.
How my feelings for him are stronger than I thought they were.
That they’d been suffocated by my insistence on looking the other way.
And don’t get me wrong, I was pissed on your behalf, too.
That wasn’t a lie. I knew how much it hurt you to realize they were inside her room. ”
I squeeze her hand to let her know I got her. That she’s safe in sharing her feelings with me. Even if my dumbass brother is the one responsible for making my best friend feel this wrecked and confused.
“I have a feeling Robbie might not be as unaffected as you think,” I dare to say. “When I was in Miami, he sent me a text to ask me if you were okay because he sent you a meme and you didn’t reply.”
“Ugh.” Gemma laughs. “That was a good one.”
“Then why didn’t you reply?” I turn on my side to face her. She does the same.
“Because I’m fucking scared,” she admits. “Scared to find out he might not feel the same way I do. And if he does, I’m scared people will think he’s just into me to skip the line at my dad’s company. I don’t want to be the reason they start talking. And most of all, I’m terrified to lose you.”
The corners of her lips pull into the saddest face I’ve ever seen on Gemma. She chokes on a sob, and my weak heart can’t take it. I slide my arms around her and cry with her.
“There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me push you out of my life,” I say, feeling the hot, messy tears streaming down my face. “Even if you killed someone and I got called to the police station, I’d say: Well, she must’ve had a damn good reason to do it.”
She laughs and squeezes me harder.
“It’s safe to say that Robbie knows I’d always choose you over him any day of the week. So if anything, he’s the one who’s probably scared shitless of losing me. His idol,” I joke.
Gemma sighs out a chuckle, and we break off the embrace. I sit up on the bed and pull her up with me.
“Robbie misses you,” I say. “That much I know. He doesn’t have to say it. I can see it on his face. On how sad he’s been since Australia. On how he keeps asking about you any chance he gets, like a golden retriever who wagged his tail for too long and finally gave up waiting.”
“Oh, not a golden retriever reference!”
I shrug. “It is what it is.”
She groans and wipes the tears off her face.
“God, I’m a mess.”
She grabs her bag, rushes to my bathroom to check herself in the mirror, and retouches her makeup. This is Gemma. She can’t go around looking anything beneath flawless.
I follow her.
“So now what?” I ask.
“My dad told me Robbie has been accepted into the summer internship program. He doesn’t know yet, but they will give him a call soon.”
Robbie is going to flip.
“I know how much he wants that internship, and I don’t want to get in the way. I think it’s best to keep my distance until these feelings fizzle out,” she adds. “I’m sure it’ll pass. Eventually. With time.”
I sigh.
“Just like mine for Henry, you mean?” I raise an eyebrow at her. Gemma knows more than God himself how tragically devoted I’ve been to him since the dawn of time. “You can’t just will yourself out of this one, Gemms. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“This is different,” she says, her voice slipping back to intellectual Gemma mode. “It’s just an infatuation.”
“I get it.” I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe, watching her apply a few finishing touches to her face. She grabs a brush and a beautiful, rosy apricot compact blush.
“You shouldn’t waste your makeup on me,” I say, allowing her to dab my cheeks with color. “I’ll be drooling on the airplane in a few hours.”
“Who says you can’t drool and look great at the same time?”
She adds a little gloss, and I stare at myself in the mirror as she puts her stuff back in her bag. I give my long hair one last brush with my fingers.
“Ready to drool,” I quip, holding my hands under my chin for dramatic effect.
“Oh, I’d be drooling alright if I were you,” she says, adjusting her bag’s strap on her shoulder. “You know, traveling alone with Henry to Mexico?”
“Oh, shut up.” I chuckle and walk back to my bedroom to grab my backpack. “You know it’s never going to happen. We’re never going to get past the friend zone.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“I mean it!” I let out an exasperated laugh. “I think it’s best to keep my distance until these feelings fizzle out.”
“Funny,” she says after I toss her previous words back to her. “I see how ridiculous that sounds now coming from you.”
A loud knock on the door startles us.
Jesus …
“Come in!”
The door slides open, and it’s Henry. He’s wearing black sweats, a white tee, and his favorite denim jacket. His hair is sticking out like he’s been stress-pulling it for hours.
“I swear to God, Bells.” He spots my luggage and beelines for it like it’s the last flotation device on the Titanic. Robbie steps behind him with his palms next to his face like he shouldn’t be held responsible for Henry’s airport wrath. They grab everything, including my backpack, and step out.
“If your necia ass is not inside the car within the next five minutes, I’ll carry you down myself!” Henry shouts from the hallway.
“You better wait a solid six minutes then,” Gemma teases, covering her mouth with her hand like she’s just gifted me life-altering wisdom.
I laugh.
“Are you sure you can’t come with us to Mexico?” I say, hugging her goodbye.
“As your official wingwoman, it is not only my duty but an honor to stay behind.”
“Gemma!” I slap her shoulder playfully. “You act like you don’t know Henry,” I whisper. “He’s living his best coach life. Believe me, he’s not interested in blurring any lines. Not now. Maybe ever. And I’ve made my peace with it, okay?”
“Okay.” Gemma glances at her wristwatch. “You have about three minutes before Henry goes apeshit.”
“Shit, let’s go.”
Gemma and I rush downstairs to the lobby, where Henry is pacing frantically on the sidewalk. Tony’s watching him like he can’t decide whether to drive him to the airport or the hospital to put him out of his misery.
“Bye.” I give Gemma a quick hug goodbye and hurry into the SUV before Henry breaks into hives. “Text me!”
“I will!” Gemma shouts from across the window.
Tony speeds away, and I turn on my phone. Henry snorts.
“Relax,” I say, knowing that’s the last thing Henry will do. At least not until he’s buckled up in his first-class seat inside the plane. “We still have three hours and forty-five minutes before our plane takes off.”
Henry shakes his head and scans me from head to toe like he’s trying to locate the glitch in my operating system so he can rewire me into obedience.
“You are going to be the death of me.”