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“Sure,” she said as she put her hand in his.
They walked to the middle of the dance floor and she was relieved when he placed one hand in the middle of her back and the other held her hand, keeping an appropriate distance between them. As he stepped off his left foot and led her in a waltz she remembered that he had skills on the dance floor. The first dance they’d gone to as sophomores he’d explained that he and Nate had taken ballroom dancing when they were kids. His mom had insisted on it. It was so strange to remember something you’d always known but forgotten.
The music stopped and he asked her if he could have another dance, and then another and another. It wasn’t until the fourth song that he slowed their pace and said that he needed to talk to her about the night of her birthday.
“Okay,” she answered hesitantly as she looked around and saw that the dance floor was fairly empty. Only Becca’s parents and two other couples were still dancing. But no one was paying attention to anyone or anything except for their partners.
This wasn’t where she’d wanted to have this talk, but Neil seemed subdued and she didn’t think he’d cause a scene.
“I’m sorry,” his voice wavered as if he was nervous.
“You’re sorry?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” he parroted.
“For what?”
What could he possibly be sorry for?
“For leaving after our fight at the bonfire. I should have gone back to the cabins with you. It was your birthday and I should have spent it with you. Not Laura Morton.”
Eliza stopped dancing and dropped her hands to her side as a cold numbness enveloped her. “What are you talking about?”
“You want me to say it out loud?” he asked.
Eliza nodded emphatically. “Yes.”
“After you went back to the cabins…” Neil dropped his head, looking down at the ground. “Laura and I took my truck and went to a spot in the woods that some of the locals told me about. We spent the night together.” He looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry. I was stupid and horny and I was mad that you and I weren’t…you know…doing it. I even told Nate that I was going to break up with you because of it. That’s why I picked the fight with you that night. I didn’t have the balls to break up with you so I thought if I could make you break up with me, then I would be free to do…well, Laura.”
Eliza was glad that she hadn’t drank tonight because if she had, she would have thought she was just drunk and that’s why this wasn’t making sense. However, she was sober as could be and she knew this wasn’t making sense. She held up her hands. “Wait. You didn’t go back to the cabins? Are you sure?”
Neil ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve felt like a total dick about it ever since. I know that’s why you left and never talked to me again. All these years I felt like such a loser. Like you were the only good thing to ever happen to me and I fucked it up.
“That’s why I’ve been trying to make it right since you’ve been back. I wanted to make it up to you. I thought this time, I wouldn’t fuck up. I’ve been trying to show you that I could be different this time. But, last night I hooked up with Maggie Parsons. You went out of town for one night and I fucked up.”
Eliza was speechless. If Neil hadn’t been the one in the cabin then…
“When I saw you walking down the aisle, you looked so hot I almost wasn’t going to tell you that I hooked up with her. But I want to do the right thing this time, so maybe we can at least be friends.”
“So you weren’t at the cabin the night of my birthday?” She just needed to hear him say it one more time.
“No. And I’m sorry, Eliza. For everything. Can you please forgive me? Can we be friends? I really hope we can be friends,” the raw sincerity in Neil’s voice pulled her back from falling off Freak-Out Cliff.
“Yeah, we can…we are. Friends.” Eliza barely felt the hug that Neil pulled her into as her eyes frantically scanned the room for Nate.
She needed to talk to him. Now.
