Page 49 of The Man Next Door
“Hey, Izzie,” Johnny Reed quipped. “Staying out of trouble?”
She grinned, and shot him a wink. “Never.”
I shook my head, flabbergasted. Izzie flirted with everyone, even her cousins.
Izzie had a lot of relatives. Both her parents were from large families, and it seemed like half of the people we ran into were related to her somehow; a cousin, an uncle, an aunt. Johnny was with his usual gang, thugs you don’t mess with. The boys were afraid of them, and the girls wanted to hook up with them, and those who did ended up used and dumped. I was invisible to them, and that wasn’t a bad thing at all.
The whole place had a cool retro vibe, and since it was the only place to hang, it was usually busy. You could buy a Coke or a bag of chips and walk directly to the games. And since it was March and cold outside, everyone was there. There was no loitering allowed and technically, Izzie and I were loitering, but Jack, the owner, liked Izzie… a lot.
I got lost in the blinking lights and the colorful illustration of James Bond in his suit, surrounded by scantily clad women with unrealistic measurements. I was thinking about Gavin. I wasalwaysthinking about Gavin. I wished I could just forget all about him, but as long as I was breathing, I knew I never would.
That’s when my heart did a triple flip worthy of an Olympic medal. Gavin was there, standing by the entrance, holding a jug of milk, wearing his thick winter jacket and toque. He was as beautiful as I remembered, and my pulse raced as he stood there, watching me. Thankfully, Izzie was paying attention to the game and hadn’t noticed him.
The place was packed, yet there was only us two in that moment. His gaze clung to mine for the longest time, and he seemed as heartbroken as I was. When he motioned me to him, I didn’t hesitate. My heart pounded as I inched closer, wondering what he wanted to say to me.
I miss you,perhaps.
He drew me slowly to him. “I don’t want you around that guy,” he said, almost a whisper.
I jerked my head around. “Who? Pete?”
He nodded. “He’s too old for you.”
“He’s younger than you,” I pointed out. “Two years younger.”
“Still too old,” he insisted. “And I don’t trust him.”
“You don’t even know him,” I argued. I didn’t bother telling him that I didn’t even like Pete. Perhaps a small part of me wanted to make him jealous. “And funny enough, Pete told me the same thing about you. He told me to stay away from you.”
A whisper of a smile traced his lips. “Good advice.”
“Pete is Izzie’s uncle,” I told him matter-of-factly. “He’s always around.”
“I still don’t want you around him,” he scolded.
I blew out a long breath. “Who are you anyway? My dad?” I snapped. “You’re not part of my life anymore. You made sure of that… your decision. Now you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“I’m just looking out for you, Abigail,” he said. “I still care about you.”
And with those words, he turned and headed to the cash register. And my heart broke all over again.
I still care about you.
