Chapter 16 Josh #2
Dammit. But I don’t have time. Beckett is already running away with his sack of gifts. And his bonus points. “If we negotiate, what do you want?” I ask.
He shrugs. “What do you have?”
“Fifty bucks?”
He laughs. “Can’t be money.”
That’s probably a good rule. “I…” I’m having trouble thinking of something. If his house was on fire, I’d be his guy. Or if he was bleeding profusely from…anywhere.
“You know how to paint a garage door?” he asks.
“Never done it, but guessing I could figure it out.”
“That’s what I want. An assist on the garage door next weekend.”
“Done.”
He bends, grabs the bag at his feet, and tosses it to me.
Okay, that was easy enough. I look down the line. Is everyone else getting favors and baked goods?
Nope. Mitchell has gigantic inflatable boxing gloves on his hands and is fighting his Grinch. I grin. I wish I could hang out and watch.
“What’s your name?” I ask my Grinch.
“Dave. Don’t worry, I’ll come find you, Josh.”
Chuckling, I sprint across the ten-foot expanse that they somehow built up and decorated to look like the top of a mountain, then climb down the other side.
Thea is right in front of me.
“Hey,” I say to her. “We need to talk.”
She gives me a look of disbelief. “You have to be kidding me.”
“I’m not. Come on.”
“Not now.” She jumps off the bottom rung of the ladder-turned-mountain-side and sprints over to five gigantic wrapped gift boxes.
Each has holes in the top, and I watch as she digs in her bag, pulls out one of the gifts inside, then tosses it toward the hole in the top of the box that is wrapped similarly.
It bounces off the edge and, swearing, she goes to retrieve it, goes back to the yellow line that I just now notice on the ground, and tries again. This time the gift goes in the box.
“Do you want me to toss those gifts in the box?” Muriel calls to me.
“Do you want to?” I ask her.
She gives me a book that clearly says that’s a stupid question. “Chuck those gifts in that box! Let’s go!” she tells me.
She’s right. I was so intent on studying Thea that I just now realize everyone else has thrown at least one gift, if not more, into the boxes.
I toss a box. It goes in on my first try.
“You seem upset,” I say as Thea’s second gift bounces off the edge of the box.
“Not now, Josh, seriously.”
“Promise me we’ll talk about this later.”
“I’m not really sure what there is to talk about. Violet is back, you’re supposed to be her boyfriend. The entire town believes that, so you have to play the part. End of discussion.”
“But we’re going to talk to her about it.”
Thea suddenly turns to me, one hand on her hip. “You kissed her.”
We’re keeping our voices low so no one can hear what we’re saying, especially over the general cheering and laughter as people try to toss their smaller gifts into the big gift boxes.
“I did not,” I say. “She kissed me.”
“You kissed her back.”
“I let her kiss me,” I admit. “But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t really react any other way right then.”
Thea turns back toward the box and tosses her smaller gift. It goes in this time.
“That’s my point,” she says.
I turn to her. “What is?”
“Her being back and you kissing her in front of everyone, her being so excited to see you, her recovery and return here in the middle of Merry Mayhem, it’s all just solidified this story that you're her boyfriend. My family loves you, and they’ve been building you up to her.
The town loves you, and they’re so excited that you’re Violet’s boyfriend. ”
“Won’t they be just as excited that I’m your boyfriend?”
“When we break my sister’s heart? Are you kidding?”
“But that’s not going to happen. Violet and I aren’t together. There’s no heart to be broken.”
“But now she wants to be with you!”
I take a step closer to Thea. “I will talk to her. I will tell her what happened and how I feel about you. Then we will tell everyone the truth.”
“That’s going to make her look so bad in front of Sam,” Thea argues. “You’re here to help her get through having her ex here with his new fiancée,” she adds. “How is it going to help her when she has to admit that you were her fake boyfriend?”
Okay, that’s fair. “What do you want to do?” I ask. “I can’t change how I feel about you. I don’t want to be with Violet.”
“I don’t know, Josh,” she says. “I don’t think there is a way to fix this.”
My heart thuds hard in my chest. I step closer again. “Don’t say that. That’s ridiculous. Nothing is actually going on with Violet and me. We’ll just wait till Sam leaves town—”
“That will build up Violet’s hopes. She wants to try dating you for real.”
“That’s up to me too, Thea,” I say, frowning. “We’ll let her in on the truth. Even if we wait for Sam to leave town, we have to tell Violet the truth.”
“But Sam will eventually find out.”
“Find out what?” I am beyond frustrated. I want to grab her, hug her, kiss her, and remind her of the feelings between us.
“That Violet’s boyfriend broke up with her for her sister! That’s probably worse than her not having a boyfriend here at all.”
I frown. “So…what do you want to do?”
“You go through with the plan. You continue to pretend to be Violet’s boyfriend.”
“And what about after Merry Mayhem?”
“Well, I don’t know what you and Violet planned after that.”
“We didn’t plan anything after that. She had a car accident and ended up in a coma.”
Thea looks like I slapped her, and I immediately regret my words.” I’m sorry. I just mean—”
“My sister is awesome. I’m guessing that if you did Merry Mayhem together, you would have wanted to keep dating her afterward.”
My heart bumps again, but this time it’s with panic. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you and Violet do need to see—”
Now I cut her off. “No fucking way. I don’t want Violet. I want you.”
“I don’t know how to work this out.”
“So what? This is just over?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Suddenly, bells start ringing, and there is cheering all around us.
We both startle, obviously forgetting that there is an event going on—that we’re supposed to be participating in—and that there are other people around us.
I hear the boom of the confetti canon, but it’s in the distance.
We turn to see Muriel and Patty pushing their own carts toward the finish line.
Without us.
And well behind everyone else.
Thankfully, this gift toss is in the middle of the football field, so our conversation has taken place in private for the most part.
Since every other contestant passed us several minutes ago.
“Well fuck,” Thea sighs.
And that pretty much sums it all up.