Page 128 of The Backup Plan
It feels off.
Am I stupid for telling her I don’t care about any of that? Am I missing something? Why is she still so upset when I told her over and over everything’s okay?
Ethan
She might feel bad for involving your buddy to help.
Cameron
Isaac and Justin adore her. They wouldn’t play along if they thought I didn’t deserve her.
Actually, that’s kind of cool they think I do. Huh.
Ethan
Awww fam.
Cameron
She’s supposed to come with me this weekend. I don’t know if she still wants to. I need her to come with me.
Ethan
I do, too. She fights to get her man and takes no shit from people who want to tear her down. I want to meet her.
Cameron
She’s amazing, and clearly upset in a way I can’t help with.
Ethan
The throws we miss can really sting, even when we win. We always think we could have done better. Maybe she does, too.
Cameron
You have a point.
Ethan
It NEVER comes down to the field goal in overtime.
Avery entered the studio and put on her protective goggles without greeting him, and pulled up a stool at his side. Fingering the edge of the soapstone garden he’d pushed aside, she surveyed the mess of his work area and the discarded wood blocks.
“That stone is pretty.”
“You should have seen it a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah?”
Cam leaned forward and kissed her lips, a gentle touch so his plastic goggles bumped hers. He nodded at the marble chips and dust on his shoes. “Yeah. It looked like someone got mad at it and gave up. I think people who don’t work in sculpture very much forget how you can just grind some mistakes away with a little work.”
“What are you making out of this one?”
He took her hand in his, placing her palm over a plane he’d begun to round off like a cylinder, and spread her fingers to some angles he started to form. Wings.
“A bumble bee. It’ll take forever, but eventually.”
Avery nodded to her backpack on its hook by the studio door. Cellophane-wrapped blooms in shades of orange and yellow poked out the open top. Her whisper was warm on his cheek.