Lib Novel Page 26
I sighed, knowing the conversation that would follow, and I knew I didn’t want to talk about my perpetual singleness.
“Not everyone is your ex,” she said softly, and my shoulders fell.
I knew my sister wasn’t trying to pry or be a pain in the ass. She genuinely wanted me to be happy, and was my biggest cheerleader in life.
I wanted those things too, but…
“I’m a thirty-one year old man waiting tables at a dive bar, renting an apartment, and I don’t even have a fucking goldfish, Mia. Pretty sure I’m a low man on the totem pole.”
Mia frowned, her gaze sympathetic. “You never know, maybe you’ll meet a Richard Gere type and sweep him off his feet,” she teased.
“Please. You’d look much better in a Vivian dress than I do,” I shoved her with a laugh, trying to ease my way out of the conversation with compliments. But my sister saw right through me.
“That may be true, but you are a thirty-one year old man who has a heart of gold, who makes enough in tips to afford your rent and then some, and goldfish are a pain in the ass. You have to, like, clean their tank every forty-eight hours or something or they stink to high hell,” she said with a grin, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“All I’m saying, is you are way too hard on yourself. Let up a little. Maybe go into this weekend with no expectations, and just… see what happens. For once, don’t try to predict the outcome. Live in the moment, Henry.”
Her words sunk in, melting my cold heart and resolve just a fraction.
Maybe she was right, maybe I was too hard on myself.
Maybe I did need to just… let go a little bit.
Three days.
I could relax for three days, right?
CHAPTER 16
Henry
“Fuck!” I yelled as panic laced through me. I banged my head against the steering wheel as the dying sounds of my engine echoed in the air.
Of all days for my car to kick the bucket, the morning I was supposed to leave for the damn trip was the day my car decided to say, “Eff you, Henry, we’re through!”
It would be just my luck.
I sighed as I called my sister, my stomach twisting, already knowing she would be disappointed, but also, that she probably would just think I’m trying to get out of the weekend altogether.
“Hey Henry, what’s up?” she answered, and I could hear voices in the background. She wasn’t alone.
“I’m not going to be able to make it,” I sighed, waiting for the scolding.
“What? Why? I thought—”
“My car won’t start. Like, it won’t kick over. At all… I’m going to have to call Triple AAA or something, regardless, but it doesn’t look like I’m leaving my driveway. Unless, you’re able to pick me up—”
“I can’t. I dropped my car off for a recall yesterday and I’m riding with Giselle and Aaron. I’m sorry.” She sighed in disappointment, and I felt like the worst fuck up on the planet.
“Does he need a ride?” Giselle’s voice shimmered in the background.
“Yeah, his car won’t start,” Mia said.
“Grayson’s driving up by himself. I’ll call him, see if he can pick him up.”
My blood chilled.
No, it fucking froze.