Page 64 of The Lucky One
“Really?” I bounced in my seat.
“Yeah. Danielle’s your best friend, and it’s about time we put our differences aside and do”—air quotes—“normal couple things.”
“Jon Henry Denson doing normal?” I giggled and leaned into him to give him a big kiss. I pulled away an inch and added, “New rule: We do our own normal.”
“I like that,” he said, smoothing my cheek.
“Okay. Rule #1,” I reminded us, “never say goodbye without a kiss. Rule #2: we do our own normal.”
“I want to add another rule.”
“Which is?”
“Rule #3: we write it all down. So when we can’t be together, we’ll read about it.”
My smile vanished. I liked writing to Jon but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. We needed more time...
“Come with me to Germany this summer,” I blurted.
His mouth opened and his eyes twitched to the side. His palm fell away from my cheek.
“Jon?”
“Little German, look.” He nodded at the windshield. I tilted my head.
Right in front of the car were Paul and Kiki, staring at us.
One Night Off
Kiki
The second I saw the BMW logo on the bumper, I knew we’d run into the reason why Paul and I couldn’t work. The way Jon was holding Emily like she needed protection made me swallow so hard, it felt like catching a cold.
Paul and I had watched the horror movie in complete silence. I’d peeked over at him a few times, but his eyes were solely focused on the screen. And when the movie ended, he offered me a ride home. A part of me wanted to bring up our almost-kiss, but another wasn’t ready to face that whatever this was between us, it was only to heal our bleeding hearts.
“Hey,” Paul said lightly as Emily and Jon came out of the BMW. “What were you up to, Emi?” His voice sounded plastered, put on, nothing like the mood he was in before.
“We went for a swim,” she said, just as lightly, ruffling her fingers through her damp hair. Her eyes suddenly widened as she noticed his wrapped-up knuckles. She opened her mouth but Jon beat her to it.
“What the fuck happened to his hands?” he said to me.
“You can talk to Kiki but not to me?” Paul shouted. I gasped when I saw his expression, just like in the Olive Garden parking lot. Emily hustled up to him but I was quicker and closer.
“Paul, not now.” I yanked at his wrist, forcing him to look at me. Now wasn’t the time for them to have this talk. Paul was way too brittle. He flinched but didn’t pull away, inhaling deeply instead. I let go of his wrist when I felt his pulse calm down again.
“Paul, what happened?” Emily asked, her face paler than my mother’s lab coat. But he didn’t say anything, just stared at the tree in the front yard.
“So um, Jon,” I said, “mind giving me a ride home?” I would’ve preferred Paul but there was something I wanted to discuss with him.
“I thought I was giving you a ride,” Paul grumbled.
“It’s okay. Jon has to go that direction anyway,” I said, giving Jon a significant look. “Right?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
Emily avoided my eyes as I walked over to the passenger side of the BMW. Finals were coming up, and the last thing I needed was to get dragged into their mess as their mediator. But there was one person I couldn’t turn my back on.
“Thanks for tonight, Paul,” I said. “See you for studying?”