Perfect Regret (Bad Rep #2)(61)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

Maysie lifted her shoulders in a tired shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t wanted to ask her. None of us want to stress her out or anything, so I have no idea…” she said, letting the words trail off.

I had to ask the other question that was eating me alive. “Have you seen Garrett?” I queried, ashamed that I was bothering to know this particular piece of information after our friend almost died. But I hated not knowing how he was doing.

I knew he was taking Gracie’s situation particularly hard. It had come out after the fact that all these weeks, when I thought the two of them were possibly hooking up, Garrett had been in fact trying to keep Gracie together. He was making it his mission to keep her sober.

I figured this had more to do with his feelings regarding his parents’ death at the hands of a too-drunk driver. But it didn’t change the fact that he had stepped up and helped Gracie when the rest of us had failed miserably.

Maysie gave me a look that I refused to interpret. “Yeah. He was at Gracie’s parents’ place this afternoon. They were hanging out when I got there.”

The pain that sucked my breath from my lungs was a combination of regret and guilt.

“He’s been really great to her,” I commented, not knowing what else to say but the truth.

“Yeah, he has been. Better than the rest of us,” Maysie said, sounding miserable and sad and all the other crappy emotions that I was currently feeling.

“He asked about you,” she said after a moment. I wanted to jump all over that tiny statement like white on rice. I wanted to hound out of her every infinitesimal shred of information.

But I didn’t.

“Really?” I asked without a hint to the wave of something resembling hope that threatened to leap out of me with a gigantic whoop.

“Really. He wanted to know why you haven’t been by to see Gracie. He just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Well, that little bit of hope went straight down the toilet.

Because I knew what he was thinking because I hadn’t been to see my friend. It confirmed every horrible thing he had ever thought about me. And he was right.

“Oh,” I said shortly, feeling like a fool. I had bungled up so much of my life recently and all I could think was that my father would be really disappointed in me.

Maysie put her hand on my arm. “You should go and see her though. It would be good…for both of you.” My roommate had become unnaturally astute in her old age.

“I’m most likely the last person she’d want to see. Or have you forgotten how I was crowned Gracie’s least favorite person in the last month?” I asked bitterly.

Maysie shook her head as though I were an idiot. “You’re an idiot,” she muttered, confirming my thought. “Gracie hasn’t been herself in a long time. I think the Gracie, who we know and love was being sucked under by all the other shit going on. She was a jerk to everyone, not just you,” she stated.

“After Garrett, I don’t blame her,” I said.

And then Maysie slapped me. Yep, the bitch slapped me.

“What the hell?” I growled, putting my hand up to my flaming cheek.

Maysie shook out her hand. I hope it stung like hell.

“You gave me a good slap once when I needed it. So I’m now returning the favor. Stop this woe is me stuff. This is not the Riley Walker I know and adore. You made some crappy decisions. Just stand up and make the right ones now,” she said firmly and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Good advice. I see the grasshopper has finally learned from the master,” I told her. Maysie rolled her eyes.

“Well the grasshopper is going to smack you again if you don’t pull yourself out of this funk. I know you’re hurting about your dad. You haven’t really allowed yourself to grieve. I’m not telling you how to handle things, but I think it might be time to try something else. Because this,” she waved her hand in my direction, “is clearly not working.”

“Wow, who made you Maysie Ardin, PH.D?” I asked sarcastically.

Maysie smiled. “You know I’m right. I understand that abrasive form of sarcasm well.”

“Whatever,” I replied, channeling some grade school maturity.

Maysie got to her feet. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Jordan and I are going out to dinner. You wanna come?” she asked.

“And watch you eat each other’s faces instead of the food? Huh. Let me think about that for a minute,” I mused.

Maysie gave me a stern look and started toward the bathroom. “Seriously though. You need to go see Gracie. She needs you,” she said before disappearing behind the door.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time. It was a little after four. I grabbed my car keys and headed out. Maysie was right. It was time I was the friend I should have been all along.

I stopped at the store and picked up a bag of Gracie’s favorite mixed chocolates as well as two incredibly horrible chick flicks. If I was going to grovel, I should probably do it baring gifts.

I knew that Gracie’s parents lived in a subdivision just outside of town but I realized I didn’t know the exact house number. I pulled down a road with a line of similar looking brick houses and was about to call Maysie to ask for the exact directions when I saw a familiar white van.

I pulled in behind Garrett’s vehicle and turned off my car. He was just closing the front door as I walked up the path. He was digging in his pocket for his keys and hadn’t noticed me yet. He was dressed in his typical slacker grunge attire that at one time I found to be horrific. His dirty blond hair brushed his shoulders and hung in his face. His beat up Vans were untied, the laces trailing to the ground. His green button shirt was only buttoned halfway, which was I assumed was him trying to be respectful of Gracie’s parents. I found that I hated not being able to see the taught muscles of his stomach. God, why didn’t I just go and lick his chest while I was at it?

I slowed down my walk, giving him time to see me. And when he did, I froze. Because the look on his face wasn’t the one I expected to see. I had anticipated disgust or disapproval. I was so sure he was done with me after my crappy display of friendship to the girl who lived in the house behind him.

But what I saw reflected in those beautiful blue eyes was a tenderness that made me weak in the knees.

“Riley,” he said in his husky voice. I had to take a deep breath to calm my rapidly beating heart. It was either that or pass out cold on the Cooks’ front lawn.