The Boyfriend Thief

CHAPTER 25





Tuesday afternoon at work, I was restocking the napkin containers when I noticed Elliott, who was on counter duty, talking to Zac. They stood at the far end of the counter and seemed to be deep in conversation. Zac gestured a lot and Elliott’s expression softened a bit as he went on. After a while, the two exchanged fist bumps like guys do and then Zac left, making a point to never look my way.

I held out for about five seconds before curiosity got the best of me.

“What was that about?” I asked, joining Elliott at the counter. I pretended organize the packets of ketchup and mustard.

He scowled at me. “Are you going to accuse me of cheating on Molly with Zac next?”

“No,” I said, my cheeks burning. I sucked in a deep breath, telling myself I had to be the better person here. No one had ever died from apologizing, right? I highly suspected the stress alone could cause a heart attack or stroke, but I figured I had to risk it.

“Look, Elliott,” I said, turning to face him fully, “I’m sorry about not trusting you. I should never have asked anyone to spy on you and I should never have jumped to conclusions. I really do hope you care enough about Molly to never hurt her.”

Elliott gave me an angry look, but he said, “I do. I would never do anything behind Molly’s back. Tara and I are just friends.”

“What about that day you thought I was her?” I asked, remembering how he’d spoken. “What were you referring to when you asked if she had thought about ‘it’?”

“Nosy, aren’t you?” Elliott asked, scowling deeper. “Tara was in a really tough situation with her boyfriend and I had given her some advice. If you don’t believe me, go ask her.”

I shook my head. “No, I believe you. I’m sorry. But there’s that rumor about you and Lila...”

Elliott rolled his eyes. “First of all, that was two years ago, Avery. Ancient history. Second of all, not everything you hear is exactly what it seems to be.”

“What does that mean?”

Elliott turned back to the register. “I take it Zac never told you we used to be friends?”

“No,” I said. “What does Zac have to do with this? And why was he here?” I bit my lip to keep from asking if he had said anything about me.

“He was here making amends for a mistake,” Elliott said. “Ask him if you want more answers.”

Memories filled my head as I stared at his back. He still tilted his head to the side a little whenever he was concentrating, like he used to do as a kid. I had spent so much time with him once that I knew him better than most people.

You don’t just walk away from someone when things get tough. Zac’s words filled my head suddenly. I had walked away, and it had cost me a lifetime of friendship with the two people who had once meant the world to me.

“I’m really sorry,” I said, my voice barely loud enough to be heard over the sound of the customers talking and laughing in the dining room around us. “About everything. About messing up and ruining our friendship that summer.”

Elliott’s shoulders tensed. His eyes remained glued to the register, but the muscles in his jaw twitched. “I’ve missed being your friend, Avery.”

It had never occurred to me that Elliott might miss me. I had never considered Elliott’s feelings these last few years, choosing instead to put him into the lost cause category, the kind of guy who didn’t care about anything.

But when he finally looked at me, I saw the sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry for what I said about hating you back then. I never meant it, I’ve always cared for you, but you pushed me away.”

I nodded. “I can be very hard-headed sometimes.”

He smiled, just a little. Then he opened his arms and I slipped into them, hugging him tight. He still smelled like the same Elliott Reiser I used to know, like the fresh linen scented laundry detergent his mom used.

“Why didn’t you ever tell Molly what happened?” I asked him.

“I didn’t want her to have a bad opinion of you,” he said, his voice echoing through his chest where my ear was pressed against it. “It happened during a hard time, with your mom leaving and all. I figured you’d been through enough that you didn’t need this resurfacing to hurt you again.”

He could have easily told everyone, but all this time he’d kept my secret. Maybe I’d been wrong about everything, from the very beginning.

“Thanks.” I pulled back to look at him. “Do you think we could be friends again?”

He gave me a half-smile. “As long as you’re finished accusing me of things I haven’t done, I think maybe that could be managed.”

Mr. Throckmorton stepped out of the kitchen. He scowled when he spotted us. “I don’t pay you two to get cozy at the register!”