Page 30 of The Time It Takes
Look at your phone, dork.
I know you missed me.
I let out a breathy laugh and I looked up to find Phoebe’s gaze narrowing in on me. I opted to ignore her and sent a text back.
You left? Huh. I hardly noticed you were gone.
I brought my hand up to chew on my thumbnail, but his response was immediate.
I don’t believe that for a second. I’m basically your right hand. It’s OK to admit it.
I missed you. A lot.
See that wasn’t hard. Your turn.
My heartbeat sped up and I rubbed my chest, silently telling it to cut it out.
Your phone clearly works. You could have used it.
I waited for his response, but minutes passed by, and I didn’t get one. I internally beat myself up for not just admitting I missed him too. It was just that if he missed me so much, why ignore the contact I tried to have with him?
With a deep breath, I brought my fingers back to the keyboard and typed.
Sorry :/ Where are you? I want to see you.
I hit send and finally looked up from my phone as Tucker began to stand. He looked down at me, his eyes darting between me and my phone skeptically.
“I’m getting a beer. Do you want anything?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
He nodded and walked away with Dylan trailing beside him. They were a pair, those two. I realized I was staring when Phoebe nudged me with her foot.
“You’re not into him,” she stated. There was no judgment in her tone, just an observation. I looked over at her and she offered me a wary look. She was wearing a pink bathing suit cover-up and held a red solo cup. Her purple fingernail polish was chipped like she’d been picking at it.
“I’m trying to be,” I said with a pathetic laugh.
“Don’t,” she stated, taking a sip of her beer. “You don’t have to like him, Will. I just wanted you to give him a chance is all.”
I arched a skeptical brow at her. “Really?”
She rolled her eyes and snorted. “And makeout with him of course.”
I laughed, shaking my head. My phone dinged in my hand, and I didn’t hesitate to glance down at the message there. It was a picture of Ollie laying in the sand.
Weak apology accepted. Come find me.
I smiled because I knew exactly where he was.
“Who is it?” I heard Phoebe ask quietly as I stood, dusting sand off my shorts.
I was still staring at the picture of him when I responded, “Ollie.”
I didn’t wait for her to say anything else before I walked away to go find my best friend.
THE ENTIRE WALK TO HIM made my heart pound and every emotion in my blood rise.
I was stopped by too many people on my way to him and I might have even seemed rude with how uninterested I was in their attempt at conversation. I couldn’t get to him fast enough because the truth was, I missed him like crazy.
