All We Ever Wanted(60)

“Oh, really? Who?”

“One was named Jackie.”

“Jackie Allen?”

“Yeah. I think that was it,” I said, trying to remember her last name from the ride request. “Tall blonde. Big hair. Big…breasts.”

“Yep. That’s her,” she said with a laugh.

“But the other woman…I didn’t catch her name. Generic looking. Strong Southern accent. Oh. And she might be divorced?”

Nina sighed. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t narrow it down very much these days.”

“Yeah. I guess not.”

“So wait…how did you put together that I know Jackie?”

“Well, that’s actually a funny story…not ha-ha funny…shitty funny,” I babbled.

She said nothing, waiting.

“Well. Finch and Lyla came up…the incident…”

“Oh, no,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?” she asked.

“You probably don’t want to know,” I said, wondering if she would press me, sort of hoping she would.

“People are so gossipy,” she said with a sigh.

   “Yeah,” I said, trying to think of something else to say—or at least a way to get gracefully off the phone.

But then she said my name as a question, all whispery.

I caught my breath. “Yes, Nina?”

She hesitated, then said, “Nothing…I’m just glad you called tonight.”

“You are?” I said.

“Yes. Very. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

Then, with a huge knot in my chest, I made myself tell her goodbye.





“Wow. That was ah-ma-zing!” I said over the ringing in my ears as the four of us left the show and walked the few blocks toward Finch’s car. I’d been to concerts before, sitting in seats my dad referred to as the “nosebleeds” while I watched all of the action on the jumbotron—and even that had thrilled me. But the experience tonight had been totally different. For one, there were only about three hundred people in the entire audience. For another, we were so close to Luke that I could see individual hairs in his beard and the stitching on his jeans and the sweat on his cheeks. It was, without a doubt, the best night of my life so far, and that had as much to do with Finch as with Luke Bryan. No star could have melted me as much as Finch did when he put his arm around me during “To the Moon and Back.” It wasn’t done in a coupley way, more like a friend hug, the same way I occasionally had slung my arm around Grace’s shoulders. But still, the contact and closeness killed me. “Totally amazing,” I said again, almost in a state of disbelief.

“Yeah. It was a cool vibe,” Finch said, his voice all chill and mellow.

“So cool,” Grace said, her ponytail swishing back and forth as she and Beau walked in front of us. “And he’s so hot.”

   “Why, thank you!” Beau said.

She laughed and gave him a little shove. “Not you, dummy,” she said. “Luke.”

“Hey now,” Beau said, putting his hands over his heart. “Dummy? Aren’t we on a date here?”

“No, we aren’t on a date,” Grace said, continuing their flirty banter, which had been going since about midway through the show. “You didn’t even invite me. Lyla did.”

Technically, she was correct. When Finch had called about the tickets that afternoon, he’d said there were four, and that I was free to bring a friend. I’d made the mistake of telling Grace this part of the conversation, to which she’d replied that the whole thing seemed kind of sketchy. “Like, why wouldn’t Beau want to pick his own date?” she had asked.

“I don’t know,” I’d floundered. “Maybe he likes you.”

“Highly doubtful,” Grace had said, but I could tell she didn’t hate the idea. “And why isn’t Finch taking Polly?”

“They broke up.”

“When?” she’d asked, sounding suspicious. “Why haven’t I heard anything about that?”

“Like a day ago,” I’d said, making a split-second decision not to tell her the full story. I didn’t want to lie to Grace, but I also wanted to keep my promise to Finch. At least for now. I told myself I could always tell her everything after the show. Depending on how things went. “I think maybe he’s just trying to be nice. To, like…make up for things,” I said, the words coming out awkwardly.

“Okay. I guess I’ll go with you,” she’d said, some part of her probably intrigued by the idea of going out with the two most popular senior boys. “But don’t get your hopes up.”

   “Oh, God, no. It’s not like that….” I’d said, even though I hoped beyond hope that it was exactly like that.

“So what’re you tryin’ to say?” Beau said to Grace now. “I’m not gonna get it in?”

It wasn’t the first outrageous thing he’d said tonight, but it was definitely the most. Grace groaned, then laughed and hip-checked him, a tough feat given that she came up to only his rib cage. “Not with me, you’re not.”