Girl Crush(60)

“Stop calculating the distance you have to jog to burn that off, and just enjoy it, Gizzy.” There were times I hated how well Veronica knew me.

Before the night was over, we’d all had our tarot cards read, guzzled too much wine, and the others had eaten their weight in food. Beck, Roxie, and Ronnie listened with rapt attention as Betsy spoke, telling them what each card meant. They hung on her every word. But I couldn’t recall a single thing she’d said to me, or a card I’d pulled, or what they’d meant. All I knew for certain was, Mama B had renewed my spirit just being around her, interacting with her. I half wondered if she’d baked pot into her cake I was on such a high.

We should have left hours ago, but none of us made any motion toward the door. Instead, we acted like teenagers having a slumber party. When we finally called it a night, I was relieved the conversation had never ventured into my current dilemma or relationships at all. It had been exactly what I needed.

I should have known better than to think I’d escaped the interference of my friends just because it hadn’t happened at Betsy’s house. They caught me off guard in the car on the way back home. We dropped Roxie off first because she lived closest and then Beck was next on the list. But the moment Roxie closed the door, Beck turned around in the front seat to face me.

“I wish you’d talk to him, Giselle.”

I released a long sigh. “It’s not me who isn’t talking, Beck. Collier said he needed time to think. I’m just trying to give him that.”

“Boys are stupid. They don’t have a clue what they need. My brother leads the pack in relationship ignorance, and you need to educate him.”

“What does that even mean?” I didn’t know how much Beck knew. I hadn’t told her anything and didn’t think Collier had either, but I wouldn’t put it past Ronnie to share the depths of my embarrassment.

“It means he’s been miserable for over a week. He’s back to his controlling ways and the yelling…my God, no one needs to hear that. And somehow, I’m back on his radar. Whatever happened can’t be that bad.”

“I kissed him, Beck.”

“You would have had to lick him like a dog for him to have lost interest, Giselle.”

“Maybe you could hump his leg or send him nudey pics. Guys love that shit, right?” Ronnie decided now was the time to add to the conversation. “Or how about show up on his front door in nothing but lingerie?”

“Are we talking about shit that would turn Collier on or that would appeal to you, V? Because from where I’m standing, if he wasn’t interested in kissing me, he sure as hell doesn’t want me leaving a trail on his leg.”

“You’re so foul, Giselle. You know men don’t like ladies who talk like their friends?” Again, Ronnie with all her experience with the opposite sex was giving me relationship advice.

“I’ve never met a man who doesn’t like for a woman to talk trash.” I raised my brow, waiting for one of the two lesbians to retort.

“When his face is between your legs, that’s probably true, but that’s where they keep the freak…between the sheets.”

I didn’t have words for these two. Beck had her brother’s interest at heart, and Ronnie had mine, but together, it was just a disaster waiting to happen.

“I’ll figure it out. Okay?” I felt like a broken record.

We pulled in behind Collier’s car, and I fought the need to get out and plead with him to talk to me. Beck got out, and I assumed the front seat, but before I closed the door, she stopped me.

“His light’s on. Do you want to come in?”

“Thanks, Beck, but I need to do this my way.”

“I’m here if you need me. You know I’ll help if I can.”

Gone was my cake high and a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach replaced it. I closed the door and waved goodbye. When Ronnie drove around Collier’s car, I chanced a glance up at the illuminated window, but it was empty. Just like me.

I dug my phone out of my purse, not sure what I wanted to say, but desperate to reconnect with him in any way. I typed out the words as quickly as they came to mind and hit send before I could back out.

Me: I’m sorry. I miss you.

There had been no response by the time I got home and climbed into bed. I refused to cry myself to sleep, but my eyes filled with tears on more than one occasion before my brain finally gave in to rest, and I closed my eyes.

The next morning, while I was out running, I made up my mind. I wasn’t going to let Collier slip through my fingers without a fight. It had been me who hadn’t given him an accurate picture, and it would be me who had to win him over. Somehow, I had to show him what he meant to me…that I was exactly the girl he knew. Now the only question that remained was how to make that happen.

I tried calling him when I got out of the shower, knowing he’d be on his way to work, but I got his voicemail. I left a message as though nothing had changed in hopes he’d return my call. When he didn’t relinquish the ban on speaking by lunch, I tried to text him again. Being honest hadn’t worked last night, so maybe the damsel in distress might appeal to his inner alpha.

Me: I’m sitting on the side of I-78 with a flat tire.

Collier: Don’t you have AAA?

It wasn’t the response I had hoped for, but at least he had responded.