“Landon likes you. You like Colby. And Colby is stuck in the middle.”
“How do you know I like Colby? And what do you mean ‘stuck in the middle’?”
“Just that. I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say Colby has feelings for you. And I think it’s more than just friends, but how do you choose between your brother and your best friend? Either way someone gets hurt, right?”
Whoa. “Holy shit, Taylor.” I stared at this girl who somehow used her outsider perspective to see deeper than I’d been able to, though I was buried right smack in the center.
“What?” She gnawed her lip. “Oh my god, I’m sorry. Did I overstep? I do that a lot. I just people-watch and think—too much, my parents always say that—and then I start linking thoughts together but sometimes they make a lot more sense in my head and I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut.”
“No! Are you crazy? That was amazing. It would make a whole lot of sense and I’m just shocked I hadn’t thought of this sooner.” I turned and stared out the passenger window. “I think I’ve been really hardheaded and selfish about this whole thing.”
“Selfish?” She half laughed, half snorted. “You’re not a selfish person, Isla. Far from it. I don’t think a single person who knows you would use that word to describe you.”
“But that’s the thing. Nobody knows about this. Well, except Colby.” I took a deep breath, the truth wanting to escape. The burden of keeping it bottled up for so long made everything seem heavier than necessary, but if I confided in her, maybe it’d help. Maybe she’d offer advice, or if nothing else, just listen. Sometimes the hardest part about keeping a secret was stifling it.
“Colby and I hooked up.” I blurted. Then immediately regretted my word choice. We did more than “hook up” so why make it sound so trivial?
“As in…sex?”
“Maybe? Let’s just say stuff happened and I kind of thought maybe it would lead to more, but it’s just been so weird between us ever since and I’m just not sure what’s going on, but he’s like pushing and pulling and my head is spinning and…I’m rambling. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You know, I’m not here to judge you. Whatever happened between you is your business, but if you want to talk, I’ll listen. If you want advice, I’ll try to help. I’m not exactly an expert, considering I’ve had all of three boyfriends in my life. My brother tends to scare them off faster than I can date them…but I can at least listen.”
“Please don’t tell Matt. If this gets out…”
“Isla, I wouldn’t do that to you. Sure he’s my boyfriend, but first, I’m not totally convinced he even listens to me, and second, it’s not his business. It’s not even mine, but if you trust me enough to confide in me, I’m not going to break that trust. I’m just…well, I’m just flattered you even told me. And kind of surprised. You don’t really talk about your personal life much.”
“I guess I’m just not used to talking to people besides Felicity, and we talked a bit, but she’s always so busy now that she’s moved away. And I used to have Colby to turn to, but now he is the problem, so I guess I just closed myself off while I tried to sort this all out. Problem is I’m slowly losing my mind. I think talking it out is long overdue.”
“Well, why don’t you come hang at my place for a bit? You can talk. I’ll listen. And, hey, I have a half pan of brownies with our names on it.” With a small smile, she lowered her voice as she said, “If you’re wondering, yes, I ate the other half, so please eat some.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” I laughed. “I love brownies.”
“Clearly, so do I.”
I smiled as the weight of boy drama slowly lifted. It’d still be there in the morning but at least tonight I could vent, complain, and maybe even do a little wishful thinking. Taylor had no idea how much I needed this. I glanced at her as she turned up the radio proclaiming her love of the current song. Or…maybe she did.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I dug it out. The screen lit up with an incoming text.
Landon: Sorry again about tonight. I drank too much. And that wasn’t really the way I wanted things to go down.
So did he regret the kiss? Or just the way it happened? I shook my head. This back-and-forth had to stop. I was making myself crazy.
Me: No worries. We’ll talk later.
I quickly threw in a smiley face to soften the delivery, then shoved my phone away with no plans to answer any more texts tonight. But then it buzzed in my hand, and like some ridiculous conditioned response, I pulled it back out, knowing there was no way I couldn’t at least glance at the message.