“He must’ve chased him a mile into the woods,” Jay continues, “but when Bo finally came back, he was dragging Waylon up the hill by his collar and, I swear, he used an entire bottle of shampoo on him and hog-tied him so he could brush his fucking teeth.” Then he turns to Leona dramatically, “Because he knew his mom wouldn’t allow Waylon back in the house if she ever found out.”
Bowen hops off the tailgate and strolls over to the edge of the table. Leona is squeezing the bridge of her nose and shaking her head, which only makes Jay and Rick laugh harder.
“Hey,” Bowen interjects, “it was gross, but I took care of it.”
“What was it?” Hildy looks up at him, “What’d you do with it?”
“I don’t know,” Bowen shrugs, “some dead shit from out in the woods. It was a bitch getting him to let go of it, though. I finally had to just grab it and rip it out of his teeth. Then,” Bowen adds with irritation, “I had to go back out there to bury it where none of them could find it again.”
“Gross,” Hildy shudders, screwing up her face.
“That is so disgusting,” I groan.
“You’re telling me!” Bowen chuckles as he tosses an empty can into the five-gallon bucket sitting on the ground at the end of the table.
In the midst of Jay and Bowen’s back and forth, I notice Hannah surreptitiously leave the table, making her way across the patio and disappearing inside the house.
A little while later, I’m the only one left at the table while everyone else scurries around completing tasks that only seem to matter right before we’re about to leave for the evening. Hildy is inside, tearing her bedroom apart looking for one particular shirt, and Bowen and Jay are down at the shed with Rick making sure the quad that was stuck in the creek still runs properly.
My phone vibrates against the wrought iron table, and when I look at the screen, I let out a laugh.
COLSON (6:03PM): Hot or not…Lee Pace. Dallas says hot, but I don’t see it. She said to ask you.
ME (6:05PM): Hot. But only as an elf king.
COLSON (6:06PM): This is the weirdest thing you’ve ever said.
When Colson texted me the first time, I thought he was a wrong number. And then when I realized it was him, I couldn’t believe he still had my number from college. I thought it would be weird, but so far, his texts have mostly included new music and stories about Dallas and her latest antics.
It makes me think there’s a chance we can move beyond what happened. It’s been three years with no contact. Maybe we can be friends. Maybe we can be…normal…
“He’s only across the yard,” Hildy mutters with a laugh as she sits down next to me.
“What?” I quickly put my phone down, “Oh, yeah,” I’m smiling so much that my cheek muscles are starting to ache.
This realization immediately makes me uncomfortable, as does the fact that Hildy noticed. But, right now, she looks equally as uncomfortable, which is not like her.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she shakes her head with a huff, “Hannah just left.”
“Like, left left?” Not that I’m disappointed, but I am surprised that Hannah would skip out on this particular event. “Is she not coming out with us?”
Hildy looks down as she picks at her cuticle, “She said something about just not feeling it tonight and then said she was going home.” She lets her arm drop onto the armrest and jerks her head around, “Like, seriously, on Jay’s birthday?”
It’s odd—extremely odd—if for no other reason than it seems like Hannah would rather die than miss out on a night of partying with Bowen.
“That’s—” I can’t think of anything helpful to say, “really weird.”
“Yeah, well she can be fucking weird,” Hildy scowls, her tone turning harsh.
Before, she sounded disappointed, and now she sounds angry.
“Did something happen to her?” I ask, trying to choose my words carefully.
“Like what?”
“Today I saw she has these really gnarly bruises on her back. They weren’t there—” I immediately cut myself off when I realize that Hannah probably didn’t tell Hildy about what happened at the Rickhouse a week ago. “I mean, they look pretty recent.”
Hildy glances up in thought, “No,” she shakes her head, “not that I know of.”
She seems to dismiss my observation as nothing. And when she pauses, it’s apparent she has something else on her mind.
“You should probably know,” Hildy turns to me with an annoyed look, “Hannah’s my best friend, but she has issues. And sometimes they’re really annoying and ruin everything.”
“She hates me,” I deadpan.
Hildy presses her mouth together but a faint smile sneaks through anyway, “Yeah,” she admits, “but it’s not you. She did this with Bo’s last girlfriend.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, “Bowen kind of said as much.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Nothing specific,” I shrug, “I don’t know, I think she and Bowen have a really weird relationship.”
Hildy hesitates at first, like she’s deciding whether to continue, “Bo never used to date. He just kind of…” Hildy scrunches up her nose, “fucked around. I remember him telling me on the night of our high school graduation that he’d never get married. He said that women are only good for three things—mouth, ass, and pussy, and he didn’t need a ring to get any of those.”
“What?” I whisper in shock, “But what about you? You’re a woman,” I point out, “and you seem to have a decent relationship.”
