Anything Goes on a Friday Night (25 page)

He shrugged and put his hands in his jean pockets. “She didn’t want to bother you. She told me to not bother you either. She said you’d come around when you were ready, but I just wanted to see if you were okay. You’ve been through a lot, and—”

“I’m fine, Channing. But you should probably leave.”

“Why?”

I looked over my shoulder and then back at him. I decided not to tell him about Finn. I didn’t know how he’d react, and I didn’t want to find out.

“Because my break is over, and I need to go back in before the manager comes to find me. Tell everyone I’m fine. I’ll call her when I get off.”

“Who is he, Ellie?”

He has always been able to see right through me.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “I need to go back to work.” I started to walk off, but he moved in front of me.

“Is it the guy that was at the movies that night with you?”

“You have no right to any information about me. You screwed things up! You are the one responsible for ripping yourself from my life. You’re not a part of it anymore, Channing. You never will be again.”

He grabbed my shoulders and bent his neck so his eyes were level with mine. “I love you. I can’t keep going every day acting like I’m okay because I’m not without you. I was stupid. I fucked up, and I’m sorry. Mistakes happen.”

“You had sex with my best friend!” I screamed. My whole body started shaking.

“I know what I did! And I want to work this out! People screw up, and then they realize what’s really important! You’re my forever, Ellie! I loved you and still do! I’m ready to be in the relationship fully.”

I forced my hands onto his chest and pushed with all of my strength. “Get away from me!”

I ran into the store and to the bathroom. I splashed water on my face and tried to calm myself down before returning to work. It didn’t work. I was a mess the rest of the night. I rang up things twice, I dropped a pack of a dozen eggs, and I couldn’t remember not a single code for produce. My manager ended up letting me off work early.

I DROVE TO MEET
Finn at his uncle’s shop, since he was still working. I parked and walked inside, where Finn was changing the oil on an old pickup. I sat on a bench and waited. When he saw me, he smiled and wiped his hands on a towel from his back pocket.

He came over and leaned down to kiss me. “Hey, beautiful.”

I smiled, but it faltered quickly. A deep frown set in, and I couldn’t reverse it. I knew I had to tell him about Channing, but I didn’t know how. He would get upset, and it would just ruin our night.

“What’s wrong?” He sat beside me on the bench.

I hid my face against his shoulder and let out a heavy sigh. “Bad night.”

“How so?”

I sat up straighter and looked around the shop. “Are you the only one here?”

“Yes, and stop changing the subject. What happened?”

“Channing happened.”

His forehead creased, and his face turned red. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving me and going back with him.”

“What?” I shook my head adamantly. “No! That’s not it at all. Why would you even think that?”

He shrugged. “Just making sure.”

“Never. Don’t ever worry about that.”

“So, what is it? What happened with him?”

I swallowed hard and ran my fingers through my hair. “He found out where I work. He showed up while I was on break. Alyssa is the only one who knows where I work that would’ve told him. I’m going to kill her.”

His jaw tensed. “And what happened when he showed up?”

“I was on break behind the store smoking. He found me and started begging me to forgive him. Somehow he knows I’m with someone new, so he was grilling me about you. I shoved him away when he grabbed my shoulders, trying to keep me from running away from him. I couldn’t focus the rest of the night, so my manager let me off early.”

Finn looked at the clock on the wall and then at me again. He adjusted his ball cap and stood. He didn’t say anything else; instead he went back to finish up the truck. I was so confused. I expected him to yell or something. I walked over to him. When I put my hand on his shoulder, he flinched and shrugged away from me.

“Finn?”

He dropped his wrench and gripped the hood of the truck. He slammed it shut before looking at me. “Do you still love him?”

“No, I thought I made that clear.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Ellie! I’m pouring my whole self into this relationship, and if you want out, tell me now.”

“Finn! Stop it! You know I’m over him!”

“But he’s not over you! How many other attempts has he made? When will he stop? What if one day you cave, and you decide to give him another shot? You were in a serious relationship with this guy, Elena. Do you honestly think I’m going to believe that there aren’t still feelings there?”

Tears started to pool in my eyes. “There aren’t! Where is this coming from? I loved him, Finn. Loved, not love. He screwed up, and I’m glad he did! Because now I have you, and I like where this is going, you and me. I’m all in too. Please, don’t turn this is into something it isn’t!”

He took a few calming breaths, and without another word, he wrapped me in his arms.

“I’ve dated a lot of girls, but none even came close to how I feel about you. I’m just scared to lose you to someone else.”

“You won’t,” I whispered against his shoulder. “I promise.”

“I’m going to kill him.”

I laughed. “No, you’re not.”

“He better not do it again.”

That I couldn’t guarantee. I moved my arms until they were wrapped tightly around Finn.

“I hope he doesn’t.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll finish up here, and then we can go get something to eat.”

“Can we get something and hide while we eat it? I don’t feel like dealing with my dad if he finds out I’m out with you.”

“Of course.” He kissed my cheek and went back to work.

E
LENA, IT’S ONLY GETTING
worse. It’s time you go see him.” Dad was being civil, but only because he was talking to me about Grandpa.

“I’m scared to see him so sick.”

“I know, but he really wants to see you. I bought plane tickets, and you’re flying out first thing in the morning.”

I nodded, and Dad walked into the kitchen. I looked at my closet. I needed to pack, but first I wanted to tell Finn what was going on. I dialed his number and held the phone to my ear while I looked for my suitcase in my closet.

“Hey, I just got off work. Is your dad working late tonight?”

“No. He’s home.”

I heard his truck door shut. “Oh. Well, damn. So I guess I still won’t see you until Monday then?”

“Actually…”

He sighed. “Don’t tell me he pulled you from school too!”

“No. Remember I told you my grandpa was sick with lung cancer?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s getting worse, and the doctors are only giving him a year, if that, to live. Dad wants me to go see him before he gets any worse than he is now.”

“How long?”

“Two weeks. He already got it approved by school and my job. I’ll just be finishing up assignments while I’m there.”

“Oh. When you get back, it’ll be prom. Are we going?”

I laughed a little. “You never asked me.”

“Seriously?” He laughed. “I thought it was obvious.”

I found my suitcase and laid it on my bed. I unzipped it and then sat down beside it.

“Of course, we can still go! I’ll find a dress while I’m up there and make some phone calls to get a hair and makeup appointment scheduled. I’ll tell you the color of my dress, so you can get the same color tie or whatever.”

I smiled thinking about Finn in a tux. He was a rough-around-the-edges type of guy. His attire consisted of worn-out jeans, a t-shirt, and his old ballcap on backwards. It’d be nice to see him all cleaned up.

“Okay. And that’d be a good time to officially meet my parents.”

“I guess you could officially meet my dad and Nancy then too.”

“Yuck. Don’t know if I want to.”

I laughed and went to my drawer to start getting clothes to put in my bag. “Well, at some point you have to, and that would probably be the best time.”

“I thought your dad grounded you from me?”

“He can’t keep me from prom, Finn. And he’s never home; he can’t really ground me from you or anyone else.”

“He’s your dad. Yeah, he can.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

I could hear Tryston talking in the background. “Ellie, I gotta go. If you need anything, call or text me. I’ll miss you.”

“Miss you too. You and Tryston behave.”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

I THOUGHT SEEING GRANDPA
would be the hardest thing I had to do this year, but it wasn’t. He was happy and enjoying every second of what was left of his life on Earth. It was refreshing almost. It was crazy seeing someone on the last leg of his life forgetting about all of the negativity and just living. It was inspiring.

My brother and I even got to hang out a little bit, which was nice until I tried to bring up all the bullshit happening back home. Every time I tried to talk to him about it, he’d change the subject or straight up tell me to talk about something else. I guess we were a lot alike in that category. We liked to just sweep shit under the rug and hope it’d eventually disappear forever. However, I was learning that was completely false.

Leaving Grandpa was hard because I wasn’t sure if it’d be the last time I’d see him or not, but he told me not to think like that. He said to think of it as a
see ya later
type of thing. I cried the whole flight back to Texas.

I picked out a dress while visiting Grandpa. It was silver and black. It was a sparkly, strapless crop top that was tight, and showed just a tiny bit of skin between the bottom of my top and the fluffy skirt, which was shiny and had silver layers of tulle. It flowed just past my feet, but with my clear Cinderella heels, it was the perfect length. Not only did I adore the dress, but I also thought Finn would appreciate just wearing a black or silver tie and not a pink or purple one.

Tonight, after two weeks of being gone, I’d get to see Finn. We didn’t talk much while I was visiting Grandpa. I was so busy spending every second of my time with him, but Finn understood.