Page 100 - It Ends with Us
P. 100

I   stare   at   hi s   tex t   for   a   moment .   He   wan ts   to   meet   my   mothe r?   We

                aren’ t  even   offic ially  dating .  I  mea n    .  .  .  I  don’t  care  if  he   meet s  my
                mother.  She  would  love  hi m.  But  he  went   from  no t  want ing   any thi ng
                to   do   with   rel ations hi ps,   to   possibly   agreei ng    to   tes t-drive   one,    to
                meet ing  the  parent s, all withi n fiv e  days? Good  God. I rea lly am  a drug.
                    Me: Sure. Meet us there in half an hour.

                    I  walk  out  of  my  offic e  and   straight   up  to  Allysa.  I  ho ld  my  pho ne
                in  front  of her  face.  “He  want s to meet  my mother.”
                    “Who ?”
                    “R yle. ”
                    “My brother?”  she  says, looking  as sho cked  as I feel .
                    I no d. “Your brother. My mothe r.”
                    She  grabs my pho ne  and  looks at the  tex ts. “Huh.  Tha t’s so wei rd.”
                    I   take   my    pho ne    from     he r   ha nd s.   “Tha nk s   for   the   vote   of

                confid enc e. ”
                    She  laughs  and  says, “You kno w wha t I mea n.  It’s R yle  we’re  talking
                about    here.    He’s   nev er,   in   the   hi story   of   bei ng    R yle   Kinc aid,   met    a
                girl’s parent s.”
                    Of  course  hea ring   her  say  tha t  makes   me  smile,   but  then  I  wond er

                if  maybe  he’s  doing   thi s  just  to  plea se  me.   If  maybe  he’s  doing   thi ng s
                he    doesn’t    really   want     to   do   just   bec ause    he   kno ws    I   want    a
                rel ations hi p.
                    And   the n  I  smile  ev en  bigger,  bec ause  isn’t  tha t  wha t  it’s  all  about?
                Sacrific ing  for the  pers on  you like  so tha t you can  see  them  ha ppy?
                    “Your  brother  must  real ly  like  me, ”  I  say  tea sing ly.  I  look  back  up  at
                Allysa, ex pec ting  her  to laugh, but there’ s a solem n  look on  her  face.

                    She  no ds  and   says,  “Yea h.   I’m  afraid  he  does .”  She  grabs  her  purse
                from benea th  the  count er  and  says, “I’m gonna  hea d out now. Let  me
                kno w  ho w  it  goes ,  okay?”  She     moves   past  me  and   I  watch  her      as  she
                makes   her    way  out  the    door,  and   then     I  just  stare   at  the   door   for   a
                long  time.
                    It  bothers   me  tha t  she  does n’t  seem   ex cited   about  the  prospec t  of

                me  dating   R yle.   It  makes   me  wond er  if  tha t  ha s  more  to  do  with  her
                feel ing s toward me  or her  feel ing s toward hi m.


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