Chapter 28 Donovan
If I wasn’t in such a bad mood this morning, I’d probably be smirking at my sister slipping out of Adam’s room and sashaying across the apartment, humming “Walking on Sunshine” as she goes. I stare at her, dead-eyed, and when our gazes meet, she stops in her tracks.
“Gotta problem?”
“Nope.”
“Good.”
She dips into the kitchen, and it doesn’t take long for her new boyfriend to join her.
Laughter drifts in through the door, followed by a few obnoxiously loud kisses.
Seriously? She spends one night at his place and they’re already a thing?
One fucking night?! My thoughts go straight to Carrie and how hard this shit is, and my mood darkens.
Arm in arm, they pick their way over to the couch where I’ve been sprawled for hours now. Adam is totally breaching the bro code.
“All good, Don?” He smiles.
I stare at the blank TV. Maybe if I ignore them, they’ll get the hint.
Amelia toys with her straw. “He’s sulking.”
“How come?”
“No idea.”
“Did you ask him?”
Amelia nods.
“And what did he say?” Adam presses.
“Nothing.”
“Did you drop it?”
“Yeah.” Amelia shrugs. “I figured it was nice of me to even ask.”
Back the fuck off.
“It’s gotta be something to do with Carrie.”
“Maybe.” Adam nods thoughtfully. “I can’t remember when I last saw her.”
“I think she suddenly realized how boring my brother is.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s always known that. It must be something else.”
“Maybe—”
“You guys gonna shut the hell up, already?” I snap.
My sister’s eyes crinkle with laughter.
“We fixed him!”
Amelia and Adam fist-bump, before turning back to look at me, waiting for me to speak.
Aren’t they nice and cozy, ganging up on me like an old married couple…
“Get the fuck outta here.”
“Wow—little baby Donny is kinda cranky this morning, huh?”
I stare up at my sister. “You know, I’m starting to miss the days when you just stonewalled me.”
“Adam says I should make an effort with you—but if you ask nicely, I can go back to the silent treatment.”
“Wow, you guys are the best.” I flash them my fakest smile. “Now leave me the hell alone.”
“Come on, dude. I hate seeing you like this,” says Adam, more serious now. “What’s up with you?”
I let out a deep sigh and haul my ass over to the table. I need to talk this through with someone—try to figure out exactly what the hell happened.
As quickly as I can, I take them through the talk I had with Carrie three days ago.
“So, did you try calling her since she went to Cincinnati?”
I eyeball Adam. “Sure, I just called her up and begged her to see me, like the world’s biggest loser!” I snort. “I already look lame as fuck, man—of course I didn’t call her.”
“Okay. I mean, what about calling her to make sure everything’s okay with her?” He shrugs. “She told you something was going on with her mom. Maybe that’s why she flipped out.”
Amelia nods. “Agreed.”
“For real?” I ask.
“Sometimes when you’ve got stuff going on, it makes you just kinda shut down. You find an easy target and you dump all your crap on them,” my sister offers.
I glance over at Amelia. I know exactly what she’s referring to. It’s insane how our relationship did a complete U-turn so fast, and I’m glad—but this Carrie thing is seriously getting to me. I fixed things with my sister, and now somehow I have to do it all over again with Carrie, too.
“That doesn’t mean it’s all her fault, by the way. I’m sure once she’s dealt with whatever she’s dealing with, she’ll be in touch.”
I frown. “I haven’t heard from her since she left, but Lane saw her on campus yesterday. Which means she got back to Sycamore Heights without telling me. Pretty clear message, if you ask me.”
“You guys have way too much history for her to just randomly ghost you.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Guess you don’t know Carrie the way I do. She’s unpredictable—and crazy stubborn.”
“Not that stubborn. She agreed to help you even though she couldn’t stand you, remember? You asked for help becoming the perfect boyfriend, and she said sure. Why would she bail now? It doesn’t make sense.”
I shoot Amelia a hard look. “You’re really up to speed on the whole situation, aren’t you?”
“The ‘whole situation’ is why I decided to give you a second chance.”
“This fucking sucks.”
My sister smiles at me softly before awkwardly patting my knee, and as they head back toward the bedroom, Adam clasps my shoulders.
Alone again in the living room, I start to think. I need to make sense of it all. I don’t want to call her, because I’ve always been the one to make the first move—at the same time, I’m worried, and this whole thing is driving me crazy.
I’m stretching my legs out on the coffee table when there’s a knock at the door. I freeze. There’s no way I’m dragging myself over to see who it is. I’m not in the mood for small talk. I’m hoping one of my roomies will move their asses, but it seems like today’s my unlucky day.
“Somebody’s at the door!” I holler.
“I’m looking for something on my desk!” Lewis yells from his room, and I roll my eyes.
Adam doesn’t make a peep, and I’m guessing he’s… Nope. I’m not going there. I don’t even want to think about it.
More knocking. Suppressing a sigh, I slope across the room, rubbing my eyes and raking a hand through my messy hair.
I open the front door. And just like that, she’s there.
I’ve spent so long waiting for her to show up—coming to terms with the fact that I might never see her again.
But here’s Carrie now, standing right in front of me. Whatever you do, don’t smile.
I’m not saying a word. This time, it’s all on her. This is her chance to explain why she blew us up, when it was all going so well.
Standing there frozen in spot, her hair tumbling around her shoulders and a red plastic cup at her feet.
She’s even more beautiful than I remembered—though she seems different, somehow.
Then it hits me. She’s wearing a trench and heels.
What the hell? My eyes drift up to her face.
Her features are pinched; I can see her breath coming in snatches.
I hold my tongue. I hold her gaze.
She shifts her weight from foot to foot and bites her lip, like she’s trying to figure out how to say what she needs to say. In one sweep, she tugs at the belt, and I’m guessing the plan was for the trench to fall open, but the knot tightens, and she curses under her breath.
What the actual fuck?
She takes a deep breath in and eases the belt loose, holding her trench open like she’s hustling. Wow. I was expecting a jumble of bullshit excuses, but instead, I’m staring straight at lingerie probably engineered to take me out on sight.
“Umm…”
That’s pretty much all I’ve got right now.
I drink in the sight of her. Is this some kind of joke?
She bends over, plucks up the plastic cup, and straightens so fast she teeters on her heels.
As she struggles to catch her balance, the drink goes flying through the air and hits me square in the face. Definitely some kind of sick joke.
Lukewarm liquid streams down my face, soaking into my T-shirt, but all I can do is stand there staring at her, too shell-shocked to move. I run my tongue over my lips. Milk.
She widens her eyes. “I…”
I cock an eyebrow at her. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, lady. Her lips part and close as she struggles for words, and just when I think she’s about to speak, she turns on her heel and dashes down the hall. What the hell just happened?
“Who was that?”
Lewis has sidled up behind me, and as I turn to respond, he snorts, gesturing at the milk still dribbling down my chin.
“Carrie, huh? So, you guys made up?”
“Who said we had a fight?”
“Nobody. It’s just the way you had your emo ass glued to the couch for days.” He peers closer at me. “Is that milk? She came all the way to give you a milk bath?” He snickers. “Wow. You must’ve really fucked up.”
“She’s out of control.”
“Like I always say—girls suck. Not my fault if nobody ever listens to me!”
At least he has the decency to wait until he’s back in his room before bursting out laughing.
Just you wait and see, Lewis. One day, you won’t find it all so funny.
Hearing footsteps in the hall. I whip around. Carrie is back, and my heart skips a beat.
I stare at her, suddenly wary. The pumps are gone. The trench is safely buckled again.
“Just so you know—I don’t take milk in my coffee.”
“I’m sorry, I panicked…”
“You panicked? Thank God it was milk, and not a book.”
“I would never throw a book.” She raises an eyebrow.
“Why not? Since they’re total bullshit.”
She blanches, realization spreading over her face, and though I instantly regret it, I decide to stay quiet.
Did she think I would be waiting here for her with open arms?
Think again. She dropped me like a piece of shit—she ripped up everything I thought we had going, and then ghosted me.
And then she comes over here and throws milk in my face.
“Okay.” She nods slowly. “I deserved that.”
She’s doing her best to seem relaxed, but I know her by now—she’s freaking out. There’s a part of me that just wants to help her anxiety, but I hold back.
“What is going on here?” I say, gesturing at her trench.
“Think of it as me reaching out.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “If you think reaching out is showing up in lingerie and throwing milk at me, then you need to do some more fucking research.”
“Okay, so it turns out it doesn’t work like in romance novels…”
“Nothing ever does.”
“Sometimes it does.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Does.”
I sigh. “You still haven’t explained what you’re doing here. Or what you’re trying to do, anyway.”
She clenches her fists, and takes a deep breath in.
“I want to be a better girlfriend,” she blurts, “and I need you to show me how.”
My mouth falls open. I’m sorry—what?!
“Will you help me?”
I hold up my hands. “Sorry, I just need a minute to process this.”
I blink. Is this actually happening?
“What’s the big idea, Carrie?”