Page 64 of Tailwhip
I turn and tell them both good night and go straight to my room, that’s when I hear Neha laugh. “Peanut!”
I brush my teeth, tie my hair up in a messy bun, and finally lie down. Why did she have to bring all of that up? And Cora didn’t make it any better. I toss and turn, when I grab my phone to look at the time. It’s a little after 2 AM. I get up and go out on the back deck and sit down in the lounger. The storm has cleared up and the stars are shining bright.
“Hey, I didn’t know you would be out here,” I hear Cora say as she sits in the lounger next to me.
“Yeah, I’m a pretty restless sleeper, even more so now after the assault.” I blow out a breath; watching it float in the air, I say, “Cor, why didn’t you tell me things have gotten so bad with Brock? You know I would have helped anyway I could.”
She takes a shaky breath, and with her voice catching, she says, “It started after your assault. You had more than enough on your plate. Then Neha told me about your split. I didn’t want to put more on you. Sorry, I never told you and sorry I brought up the nickname. Have you not told Neha about you and Avan?”
I lean my head back and look over at Cora. “Avan is hard to talk about, Cor. He was my first love and real first heartbreak.”
She just shakes her head. “I won’t tell her anything unless you want me to.”
After our short talk, I go back in to sleep.
38
Anthony
The Love Still Held Me Near – City and Colour
One Hour and 45 minutes
That’s how long I have been sitting in my truck across the street from Ashlynn’s house. I have been trying to work up the courage to get out and go knock on her door, but every time I go to grab the handle, I stop myself. Heath’s car has been here almost as long as I have been sitting in my truck, but it really doesn’t look like much movement in the house. Thankfully, he doesn’t know my truck, since I look like a creep just sitting here.
Two Hours and 20 minutes
After sitting here for two hours, I think I'm finally ready to get up and go tell Ashlynn everything I need to say to her. I pull up my notes app on my phone to look over everything I typed up that I want to say, to make sure I don’t miss anything or leave anything out. As I am looking over everything and adding a couple more notes, I nearly have a heart attack from the knock on my window, when I look up and see that it’s Heath. I roll my window down. “Hey, Heath,” I say with an awkward wave.
“Anthony, how long are you planning on staying out here?”
Blowing out a breath, I say, “Honestly, I have been working up the courage for the last few hours to get out. How did you even know it was me?”
Heath lets out a small laugh “Only the North Carolina license plate gave you away and also, I’ve been watching you out her window to see when you would come knock on the door.”
I lean my head back and look at Heath. “I guess that would be a dead giveaway for me. Do you think she’ll want to see me, or should I just leave?”
I sound pathetic asking this, but I don’t care. I am desperate to see her and get her back. I am done being without her. I haven’t seen her since that day at the police station.
Heath finally answers me, “She is out of town. She’s in Vancouver with Neha visiting their friend Cora for a week.” I feel deflated.
I go to start up my truck to leave with my head down again, when Heath invites me in. “Come on in, man. I have some coffee going. I am over here because we are expecting the first shipment of books to be delivered. You can help me bring them in.”
I shake my head at Heath, “I don’t think I should go in her house with her gone, I don’t feel right doing that.”
Heath taps his fist lightly on my door frame. “I assure you that she probably won’t care and if it makes you feel better, I won’t say anything. I’ll let you tell her once you see her again.”
I am a little thrown off with how nice Heath is toward me, but then I remember what Neha told me on New Year’s Day while we were sitting on my ramp, that Ashlynn won’t talk to her or Heath about what happened. Before I change my mind, I jump out and follow Heath inside.
The moment I step over the threshold of the front door, the memory of carrying her over my shoulder after the club is the first thing that comes to mind–her laugh of happiness and telling me she could walk herself. I smile, thinking about it. I then look over at the couch and think about the night I stayed after flying back during the tour, how we fell asleep, and she just molded to me, like she was meant to fit against me, like we are each other’s missing puzzle piece. I follow Heath into the kitchen where the coffee just finished brewing.
“So, how many boxes of books are being delivered?” I ask just to make small talk, something I hate doing most in this world.
“We are going to be getting I think five altogether. Once she gets back, she will have to sign them all, add in a custom bookmark, pack, and send them all out. Then, we’re off to start the tour.”
I take a sip of the coffee, just nod my head.
There is awkward silence between us as I sit at the counter and Heath stands on the other side, both of us just drinking our coffees. Heath breaks the silence. “What are you doing here, Anthony?”