Page 107 of PS: I Hate You
Rosaline is kind. And decent. And smart.
And has never done anything to earn my ill will other than love, and be loved by, Dominic Perry.
“Hi,” I croak. “Yours is really pretty, too.”Good job. That was nice. Maybe I can keep from turning into a jealous troll person.
“Let’s go grab seats. I don’t want to sit in the nosebleeds.” Mr.Perry ushers us toward the entrance of the stadium and I’m thankful I don’t have to formulate any more small talk when I really have one question.
Are you here because you’re still in love with Dom and you want him back?
Damn it. I’m fucking hopeless.
But all I want is to beg Rosaline to wait a little longer to make her move.
Give me till Alaska. Please. I know you’re the perfect choice for him. But just let me have him a little while longer.
We end up sitting in a row, Mr.Perry, Mrs.Perry, Rosaline, Dom, and me on the end. The add-on that could easily be done away with. To keep from sliding too far into my hopeless spiral, I search the crowd of graduates in their square hats, looking for two familiar faces.
“The section closest to our side,” Dom murmurs in my ear, making me jump. “Four rows from the back, eight chairs in.”
Following his directions, I spot Adam and Carter. The former is chatting with the guy seated behind him and the latter is on his phone.
“I see them.” And I keep my eyes on them.
At least I do until I feel a brush on my thigh. Glancing down, I realize Dom has a small bit of my dress pinched between his fingers. He fiddles with the material in an idle gesture, as if he doesn’t know what he’s doing. But when I raise my gaze to his face, I find him staring intently at his hand.
Mr.Perry is focused on recording the start of the ceremony, and Emilia is telling Rosaline about some new branch of the nonprofit she works for. No one notices what Dom is doing. Only me.
Soon enough we’re cheering for Adam and Carter as they walk across the stage, then filing out of our seats with the rest of the crowd, off to find our graduates.
The twins grin wide when they locate us. Everyone hugs. Adam picks me up off the ground for a quick twirl, and when he sets me down, I wobble until Dom steadies me with warm hands on my exposed shoulders. He runs his thumbs over the bows of my dress straps before letting his hands drop.
Our group goes to lunch at a Mexican restaurant—a real one, notTaco Bell—and I wonder if I feel like an odd interloper on their family outing. They have Rosaline—why would they need me? There’s clearly no lingering tension from the divorce. Almost like the split never even happened.
I’m grateful when Adam sits beside me and leans in close, insisting I describe to him, in detail, what would make a perfect puzzle table. By the time the food is gone, he has a sketch on his napkin that sounds like a dream piece of furniture, but I still insist he doesn’t need to make it for me.
“Hey.” Carter knocks Adam’s shoulder. “The team is texting.”
“Crap. I forgot.” He straightens, tucking the napkin into the pocket of his shirt. “Mom, Dad, some of the swim team was gonna meet up for drinks. A last hurrah. You mind if we go?”
The Perry parents exchange quick commiserating smiles. “You have fun,” Emilia says. “But you promised to be at Sunday breakfast. Don’t forget.”
“Yes, Mom,” the twins say in unison, pushing their chairs back. Carter waves at the table, but Adam takes a moment to hug his dad around the neck, kiss his mom’s cheek, and blow a raspberry against Rosaline’s shoulder that has her shrieking a giggle. The silly man clasps the sides of his older brother’s head and plants a loud smacking kiss right on his crown. Dom huffs an aggravated sigh at the antics, but I see a smile peek through his put-upon grumpy expression. But he frowns for real when Adam kneels beside my chair, takes my hand, and presses a lingering kiss to the back of it.
“Maddie Sanderson. My queen. My autumn rose. My purple bathing suit—”
“No,” Dom says, reaching across my lap and extracting my hand from his little brother’s grip. “Go away.”
Adam clutches his chest dramatically, sends me a wink, then launches to his feet and jogs after Carter, who’s already halfway to the door.
Under the table, Dom keeps his fingers wrapped around my wrist.
“It’s still early, and I’ve got the day off,” Mr.Perry announces with a grin. “Let’s do something fun.”
Apparently fun means wandering around the UPenn campus and listening to Nathanial and Emilia’s college days anecdotes. Admittedly, they have some funny stories, and Mr.Perry’s charming attitude reminds me a lot of Adam’s. Emilia is more reserved, like Dom and Carter, but when she opens up, her humor is dry and witty.
Rosaline and Dom share some memories, too, both UPenn alumni as well. Josh attended Drexel, another Philly university close enough that he appears in a few of their stories.
When my brother’s name comes up, I lean closer, desperate for another piece of him.