Wait With Me (Wait With Me, #1)(65)
“Why wouldn’t you say something to me about that?” I exclaim, wrapping my hand around the railing of my porch and squeezing it in frustration.
“Because we never knew when you might get back together with her! And if we admitted how we really felt, and you stuck with her, it could ruin our relationship with you. We actually used Grandpa to tell you she was a massive bitch because we knew you couldn’t hate him.”
“Oh my God,” I exclaim with a shake of my head. “Grandpa was in on it?”
“Oh yeah,” she replies with a giggle. “I remember him saying to Mom one time…‘If you guys are too weak to tell Miles to drop that girl, then I’ll do it.’ Mom was super insulted, but it was Gramps…ya know.”
I laugh loudly at that. “God, I can picture him saying that.”
“Needless to say, I’m glad your silence isn’t because of her. So what’s going on with the author girl then? What’s her name again?”
I shake my head and reply, “Kate.” It feels weird to say out loud when she’s been Mercedes in my mind for so long, but honestly, it suits her a hell of a lot better than Mercedes Lee Loveletter.
“What did she lie to you about?”
“A couple of different things,” I reply, really not wanting to get into the details because it makes me feel pathetic.
“So what happened when you found out?”
My brows lift. “I punched a guy.”
I’m met with silence on the other end.
“Megan?” I ask. “Megan!” I say a little louder.
“Sorry, I was processing. So you actually punched a guy?”
I nod. “Yeah. I’m not proud.”
“Jesus, I am…impressed. Dad always said the only woman who would ever make you violent to another person was me. You’re sort of one of those ‘all bark, no bite’ guys. Your bark is usually scary enough because you’re basically a giant. So the fact that you punched a guy over this girl makes me think you must really care about her.”
This is a concept I have been pondering for the past couple of weeks. “I think I was really starting to,” I admit. “But it’s over now. She lied, and I’m not doing the Joce bullshit again.”
“There’s one big difference here that I think you’re not considering, Miles.”
“What’s that?”
“Joce made you miserable, and this girl makes you happy, true or false?”
I swallow around a knot in my throat. “True.”
“So you’re going to let one bad night discredit several moments of happiness?”
“I don’t know if it’s that simple, Meg.”
“It’s only as complicated as you make it, bro. I think you’re overreacting because you’ve been burned. And that’s understandable. But don’t throw away a good thing because of your past. It’s already taken enough from you.”
I run a hand over my head and sigh heavily. “How did you get so fucking insightful?”
“I’m wise beyond my years.” She giggles, and I hear a rustling in the background. “I’m just getting to my kickboxing class. I gotta go. Call me after you quit being an idiot and make up with that girl!”
She hangs up without another word, and I can’t help but smile. And part of my smile is because for the first time in two weeks, I think maybe I was wrong. Not about being upset with Kate for lying to me about some pretty major shit, but about the fact that I never really let her explain her side of things. I never fought with her. I shut her down like I chose to shut down drama in my life after being burned so badly with Joce.
But the fact that I’d never punched another man until that night with Kate says something.
It says that Kate Smith is a woman worth fighting for.
“I’m sweaty. I’m tired. And I stink in places I really shouldn’t be stinking.” I whine and shoot a glare to Dean, who’s sitting in the passenger seat looking sheepish.
“What?” he exclaims with his hands raised. “I didn’t know we’d have fucking car trouble. Your car isn’t even a year old.”
“I know!” I snap, hitting my hand on the wheel and growling in frustration. “Stupid old lady car!” I exclaim and push my head closer to the window for a breeze. “The frickin’ air conditioning isn’t even working anymore. Me and this car are officially in a fight.”
“I think we all just need to remain calm,” Lynsey chirps from the back seat, leaning forward so her head comes between Dean’s and mine. “Because, as horrible as this trip was, after everything that’s happened between the three of us the past couple of years, I think this was really healing.”
I close my eyes and shake my head, ruing the moment I agreed that a road trip to the Rocky Mountains to pick up this four-thousand-dollar carburetor from some hick who apparently didn’t know how to ‘mail things so they don’t get lost.’”
Honestly! How are people who don’t use the mail a thing? Though, admittedly, when we got to the man’s mountain home, I realized that he was probably more familiar with the Pony Express. And I couldn’t be sure his wife wasn’t his cousin. But that’s me being judgmental. Still, though, it’s no wonder he wouldn’t let me PayPal him the money. I had to get an actual cashier’s check from a real bank.