He grins. Then sends a message on his phone. “Yes, really. Now get up. I need you to ride to town with me.”
“No.”
“Yes, come on, get up. We’re going to go grab something to eat.”
I start to tell him I’m not hungry, but my stomach betrays me and growls. “Fine, but I need to shower first,” I relent.
“Twenty minutes, I’m starving,” he says, typing into his phone.
“Who are you texting?” I ask.
“Just the guys. They have some questions about the sale next week. I left early to come and take you to dinner.” He grins.
Twenty minutes later, we are in his truck and on our way to town. “I see you kept the ring on,” he says. “I went to see Evan this morning,” he tells me as if we’re discussing the weather.
“How are they?”
“He misses you.”
“He’s fine.”
“I really don’t think he is.”
I don’t reply and he doesn’t either. We are silent the remainder of the drive. He pulls into Subway. “This okay?”
“Yeah, I’m not that hungry anyway.”
“You think your belly got the memo?” he asks as it growls just as loud, if not louder, than before.
I smack his arm and climb out of the truck. We make small talk while we eat. I get a six-inch and can only eat half. It took effort to get that down. Aaron, on the other hand, ate his twelve-inch and the other half of my six.
“You have anywhere you need to go?” he asks.
“No, just home.”
He drives us toward home, only he turns down the road leading to Evan’s place. “What are you doing?” I ask him.
“You need to talk to him, McKinley. I’ll wait outside and I promise, as soon as you want to leave, I will drive you home. You will regret it if you don’t at least hear what he has to say.”
“What could he possibly say that hasn’t already been said?”
“Did you tell him you love him?” he asks.
“No,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Sounds like a good place to start.”
“I can’t—”
“Don’t,” he cuts me off. “Don’t make excuses,” he pulls up in front of the house I’ve called home the last few months. “Drop the pretense. Just go in there and talk to him. Listen to what he has to say. Be honest with him, and if you all are still in this same place after that, you will at least know you tried.”
“Fine.” I climb out of the truck slamming the door. As I walk up the steps, Evan opens the door before I even have a chance to knock.
“McKinley.” I can hear the pain in his voice. Was Aaron right?
“Hey, uh, Aaron thought we should talk.”
“Yeah, I asked him to bring you here.” He opens the door wide. “Come in.”