“Ahh.”
We fall silent. It’s the first time we’ve been alone together since the end of last year and it’s…weird. We never had a problem with filling the silence before, but now we don’t know what to say to each other.
Don’t lie. You know what needs to be said. You know you need to make your amends.
I know I need to, but it’s hard. How do you even start that kind of conversation?
“Hey, are you okay?” she asks, cutting off my runaway thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“You’re squeezing the shit out of the steering wheel,” she says, looking at my hands.
Wincing, I look down at my hands and see, sure enough, I’m squeezing it so tight that my knuckles have turned white.
Loosening my grip, I sigh. “Do you have anywhere you have to be?”
“No…”
“Can we go somewhere and talk? I have some things I want to say to you.”
She hesitates for a second. “Sure. Milkshakes?”
“Works for me.” I turn on my blinker and head toward the chain ice cream shop I know we both like.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Grace pull out her phone and shoot off a text.
“Cora messaged me. She apologized for not being able to pick me up. She’s on her way back to campus now.”
“So she got the tire taken care of?”
“Sounds like she got the donut on it for now. So yeah.”
“I’ll check her tires and see if all of them need replacing or if only the two do.”
“Kellan, you need to be careful,” she warns as I pull into the ice cream shop.
“With what?”
“The James siblings can be a little prideful when it comes to money. If she doesn’t want you to cover the cost, then don’t, okay?”
“But if I can help…”
“I know, but still. It’s hard for me too, but it’s one of those things you shouldn’t push. Trust me.”
I rub my face. “I don’t like it, but okay.”
We both get out of the truck and head toward the shop.
“Thank you,” she says when I hold the door open for her.
“You’re welcome.”
We go up to the counter and place our orders. She gets a chocolate brownie shake while I get a strawberry one. It almost feels like old times.
Almost.
“Thanks for paying,” she says as we sit down.
