Tell Me I'm Yours by J. J. Carlson

Author:J. J. Carlson [Carlson, J. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

13

For two days, Evelyn barely spoke. Day and night, all she could think about was Donny, and the tragic reality: She was afraid of her oldest friend. She wondered if she had done something to set him off, or if he had suffered a mental breakdown. Maybe he was working too hard, or wasn’t sleeping well, or…

It was no use. There was no explanation for his behavior, no excuse for what he did. Still, Evelyn mourned the loss of a seemingly unbreakable friendship. Only a week ago, things between them seemed completely normal. They’d laughed together, commiserated about gas prices and political races, played games, and shared meals—all without a moment of sexual tension. At least from her perspective.

Had she really misread his intentions all these years? And if he wanted to pursue a romantic relationship, why didn’t he tell her? She felt a crippling, implacable guilt that she might have led him on at some point, given him the wrong idea.

The only breaks from her mental debate—deciding who to blame—were her daily conversations with Alek. He sensed her distress, though she never told him the cause, and he invited her to spend a day touring downtown Louisville. She agreed, and he picked her up at Candace’s apartment on Saturday morning.

They drove with the top down on his Buick convertible, and she let the wind wash away her anxiety about Donny. They spent the morning hours strolling through the waterfront park and visiting outlet malls before the heat and humidity forced them indoors. Then they relaxed in an air-conditioned movie theater—Alek bought the tickets, and Evelyn bought the popcorn—watching the last blockbuster of the summer.

After walking hand-in-hand through the halls of the history museum, they settled in for dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant, trading amusing childhood stories over buttery breadsticks.

“I could barely keep my arms up,” Alek said, recalling a fishing story from his grade-school years. “My dad was more excited than I was. He told me if I let go of my fishing pole I’d be grounded for a month. When I finally hauled that catfish up to the surface, Dad jumped to his feet and grabbed the line to haul it into the boat.” He chuckled. “Only, we were in a canoe, not a flat-bottom. I hit the water before I knew what happened, and the fish dragged my pole to the bottom of the reservoir. It took us twenty minutes to get the canoe flipped over, and we lost half of Dad’s gear that day.”

He took a sip of ice water and stared into the middle-distance. “That was the last time I went fishing with him.”

Evelyn smiled at him. “Did you decide fishing wasn’t your sport?”

His pupils constricted then dilated, and he shook his head. “Not exactly. I…that is, he—” Alek took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. “That’s a story for another time. How about you? Did your dad ever take you fishing?”

“A few times, but we never caught anything. I had better luck when I went with Maureen.

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