“You don’t know why? Because he loves you! Jesus.” I turn a corner and accelerate. “A man is in love with a woman, and that woman is dating someone else, shit’s gonna get tense. How is this math too hard for you?”
“He doesn’t want me, Kit! If he did, he’d make it happen. I’ve been single my whole damn life. I’ve beenhismy whole life. But he doesn’t take. I date another man for a few months and now Jim gets to be a grumpy asshole about it? That’s not fair.”
“What’s going on with Ben?”
“Nothing. I haven’t heard from him since we broke up. I haven’t called him, he hasn’t called me. He got what he wanted, shit got complicated, and now he’s out.”
“And bycomplicated, you mean questioning him when he became a secretive sleaze ball? A guy doesn’t want to meet your family after months together, he only sees you every second weekend, he’s weird and secretive – then he’s a pig, Iz. Plain and simple. You deserve better.”
“Which is why we broke up,” she huffs. “It’s a non-issue. Can we drop it?”
“So the onlynon-non-issue now is Jim?”
She scoffs. “Jim is a pigheaded jerk who said he was my best friend since I was six. But where is he now? Off being a grumpy pigheaded jerk.” Her eyes turn misty in an instant, and her hand flies up to swat away a tear. “His moods are killing me, Kit. He was never like this before. He was never so mean.”
I reach across and take her hand. “Iz, he’s dealing with the fact the woman he loves isn’t just a wallflower who’ll stick around and wait a lifetime for him. You dating Ben could very well be a good thing. It might push Jim to make a decision.”
She hiccups and brushes a hand across her face. “He promised we’d be best friends forever. It’s nothing like what the guys know. They think we’re just regular friends, you know? But it’s more than that.” Her eyes meet mine. “We’re not just a boy and a girl who were forced to spend time together. We’re best friends. Best. Friends. And nobody ever knew. He’s had my back since I could walk. He was always on my side, always there to help. He was my first kiss. The first boy to sleep in my bed. My first love. My only love.”
I pull the car over to the side of the road before we crash. Pulling up the handbrake, I spin in my seat. “First kiss? In your bed? Isabelle! What the fuck?
She cries harder until big fat tears drip off the edge of her jaw. “Even at the risk of the guys finding out, he’s always been there for me. But now, since Ben, he’s changed… He’s detached. Mean. I broke us, Kit. I was trying to show him that I’m a grown woman. I’m not a child, and maybe if another man could see that, then maybe he could, too. But it didn’t do that. It just made him mean.”
“Izzy…”
“I broke the only man I ever loved. I broke what we had and now we have nothing.”
I lean across the car and take her crying body into my arms. Pain zings through my shoulder at how tight I hold, but I don’t let go. “Shh, it’s okay, Izzy.” I run my hand over her silky hair and hum in her ear. “I swear. We’ll fix this. I promise.”
On the side of that road in the sticky June heat, we sit and I hold her. I rock us back and forth and murmur reassurances until the heat sends us both into melted messes.
The radio hums in the background and provides our combined whispers and heartbreak with an ironic soundtrack as a gritty voice sings about losing his one true love. I hold her and breathe through the pain; pain so bad, it moves from my shoulder to my stomach, but still, I don’t let her go.
When her cries soften and her arms loosen, her hitching breath turns to deep, even breathing, and her heartbreak turns to embarrassment. She wipes her face on the towel from her gym bag and lets out a desperate laugh. “I can’t believe I just cried all over you. Jesus, I’m such an idiot.”
This is the first time I’ve ever met shy Iz.
I remember when I met her in their gym a whole year ago, and my first thought was how badass she was. So confident, outgoing, easy to smile, and kind to a strange woman who waltzed on in and dominated her sort-of brother’s attention.
I dragged Jack in, along with a truck load of baggage that I needed help working through, and yet, she was so confident in herself, it didn’t ruffle a single feather.
And now, that badass sits across from me with a towel clutched in her fighter hands while she wipes her tears away. Tears about a boy. A boy she could have if she just literally walked up to him today and kissed him. If she simply stopped him before he stomped away to sulk, if she simply told him how she truly feels, her hurt would end.
But she doesn’t.
Too scared, she chooses to sit in my car and cry, instead. “I’m so sorry.” She blows her nose inelegantly. “Please ignore everything that happened in the last ten minutes. Let’s never speak of this shit again.”
I laugh softly. “No, Izzy, I can’t forget it, but I swear, Tink and I are experts at this. We’ll go over, hang out, eat really bad food, and talk shit about Jim. It works every time, I promise.”
She snickers and wipes drying tears off her cheek. “I don’t wanna talk shit about him. I don’t like him very much right now, but I love him anyway.”
I scoff. “I like Bobby all the time, but we still bitch about him. It works every single time. Did you know he always leaves his clean clothes in a pile beside the closet? They’re already washed, clean, folded. Hell, they’ve already been brought upstairs, but do you think he gets them into the closet?” I shake my head in answer. “Nope. I’m not even mad at him about anything right now, and yet, I can still bitch about that pile of clothes like a boss.”
She laughs and tosses the towel into the back. Just like I promised; a hundred percent success rate. “Thank you, Kit. I kinda love that my brother found you. You’re pretty awesome.”
I press a hand to my heart. “Oh my gosh. I’ve never heard anything so beautiful in my life, Iz. Bobby can recite poems and juggle roses, but he’s never said something as sweet as that.”
“Shut the hell up.” Laughing, she reaches across and smacks my arm. “Let’s go. Bobby’s probably got your car bugged for tracking by this point. If we sit here for too long, he’ll send a SWAT team or something to make sure you’re okay.” She shudders dramatically. “Especially a week out from the wedding. He’s probably got a tracker under your skin, if we’re being honest.”