Page 83 of This Changes Everything

My face flushed. “Sorry. I just remembered that you don’t know me anymore, and I don’t know you. And we don’t say things like that to each other, nor have we ever. So, I guess I can still embarrass myself in front of you after all these years. That’s fun,” I said sarcastically. “Thought I’d grow out of it eventually.”

“You know, I wouldn’t be mad if we said things like that to each other.” Our smiles held before he leaned forward and threw his thumb back to Tessa, who was punching in our order. “By the way, that’s gonna be delicious, but it’s also gonna be a gut bomb. If I have to go to the bathroom every thirty minutes tomorrow on national television, I’m blaming you.”

“You?” I scoffed. “I’m going to the pool in the morning! I had this cute one-piece lined up, but that’s now impossible. Running to the bathroom every thirty minutes while peeling in and out of a wet one-piece would be a nightmare.”

Rory leaned back with a sigh. “What pool?”

“Cosmopolitan. It’s where we’re staying. Zoë has all these hookups. We’re spending the day there. I don’t think it’s going to be crazy busy, but it’ll still be fun. What time do you tee off ?”

“Eight o’clock. Although now I kinda wish I was going to the pool to watch you fight with your bathing suit.”

“Listen, if you and any of your celebrity sports friends want to pop on by, I’m pretty sure I can get you in.” I winked. “I mean, I’ll be hiding under a towel in a cabana and terrified to make eye contact the whole time, but I’ll still get you in.”

Rory rolled his eyes. “Says the beauty who was dating Ben Winters. Who, by the way, has his face on a building wrap at Sunset and Vine right now!”

“Says the professional athlete who’s dating a swimsuit model! Who, by the way, is a LITERAL SWIMSUIT MODEL!” I cried out teasingly. I started vigorously shaking my head. “Nope. Never mind. You’re not invited. No pool party for you.”

Our eyes sparkled at each other across the table. My heart thrashed in my chest.

“Was dating, by the way,” Rory said carefully as Tessa arrived with our drinks. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.” He turned to Tessa with a nod. “Thanks.”

“Oh,” I said quietly. “Except for Tessa,” I whispered after she left, unable to concentrate knowing that Rory had gone out of his way to tell me he was single.

“Well, obviously,” he whispered back with a playful grin.

I took a deep breath before asking, “Have you been broken up for a while?”

“Yeah.” He tilted his head to the side, grabbed his drink, and took a sip. “I guess when your dad dies, you start to think about how you want to live your life, and who you want to live it with.”

For a long moment, we just looked at each other.

“So, how do you know what’s on the corner of Sunset and Vine? Do you go to LA often?” I asked.

“Every now and then.” His chest rose slowly and fell heavily.

“You never wanted to call me?” The question fell from my lips faster than I expected.

“I wanted to call you.” He kept his eyes locked on mine.

“Well . . .” I willed myself to just say the thing I wanted to say. “I wish you would have.” I grabbed my drink and took a sip.

Rory’s smile washed away, and the light that surrounded him dimmed for a moment. He let out a weighted sigh. He closed his eyes and scrunched his nose, pinching his face together. I watched him shuffle through a thousand emotions within only a couple of seconds. It was as if the music had turned off and everyone around us had muted. All I could hear was Rory’s deep breathing. He opened his eyes again, and they landed on mine, then moved around my face. He dipped his gaze to my mouth and then dragged it up to my hat. His hat.

He nodded at it. “That looks good on you.”

I nodded back to mine. “That looks good on you.”

Rory put his drink down, then took off my blue Dodgers hat. He thumbed it carefully, looking at it. “I remember this, you know. When we were kids, you said you’d get one. I know UCLA didn’t happen, but LA did.” He smiled to himself. “I don’t mean this to sound condescending, so please don’t take it that way, but when I heard that you actually went, I was so proud of you.”

“Well,” I said, my voice thick with regret, “LA hasn’t exactly turned out like I hoped it would.”

“Still . . . You said you would, and you did.” Rory was playing with the hat, adjusting the back so it would fit his head more comfortably.

“I said and did a lot of stupid things.” My chest hollowed out.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Do not cry.

“So did I.” Rory’s eyes pushed back up to mine. He cleared his throat, sniffed quietly, then looked back down at my hat in his hand. “You ever get that yellow Jeep?”