Page 35 of Old Habits

Chapter 11

Will

Don’t wait for me.

I stare at the dark blue ink on wide-ruled paper, just barely making out the letters beneath the dim lights above Lucky’s bar.

“Dude,” Tucker nudges my arm, “you need to stop gawking at that thing.”

“Not until I figure out what it means.”

“It’s meaningless!” he shouts, a slight slur in his speech. “It has no meaning.”

I lay the note down and press it out flat. “Jovie wanted me to see this. She wanted me to know she was leaving town. Why?”

Tucker waves his arms. “Because she wanted you to hop on your valiant steed and chase her through the countryside!”

“You think so?”

He slaps his forehead. “No! I don’t think so! I think Jovie snapped, she packed a bag, and she took off, but she didn’t want you doing exactly what you’re doing right now.”

I pick up my beer. “Which is?”

“Being a total freakin’ buzzkill.”

My mind wanders back in time to replay the events again, just like I’ve done a thousand times already since last night. “I asked her to marry me.”

Tucker flinches in my direction. “You did?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“The day before she left.” I scan the decorations above the bar. Pink hearts and shiny, red ribbons. “On Valentine’s Day, actually.”

His mouth sags. “What did she say?”

“She said no,” I say. “Or, I thought she did. That’s how I interpreted it at the time but now I’m not so sure.”

“What didn’t you understand?”

“Last night, she said she didn’t say no. She just needed a few days to think about it but that’s not how it should be, right? It’s supposed to be a gut response. Yes, I love you enough to spend the rest of my life with you, or no, I don’t.”

“And you expected Jovie Ross to answer that on the spot?”

I shrug. “Yeah.”

“Dude…” He shakes his head while pouring half his bottle down his throat.

“What?” I ask.

“No wonder she dumped you.”

“She didn’t dump me.”

He furrows his brow. “You broke up with her?”

“Yeah, the next day.”