The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

9. The Real Andrew Summers

Nine

The Real Andrew Summers

Nobody seemed to notice that I'd left the party, but I scurried down the sidewalk as fast as I could just in case somebody saw me. Several times I almost rolled over on my ankle in my nearly unmanageable heels, but I made it into the parking lot without toppling over.

In the dimming sunlight, I squinted my eyes so I could see more clearly. No silhouette was visible between the cars, and I still saw his Toyota parked so I knew he hadn't left yet.

I ran my hands through my hair, messing up the careful way I'd fixed it before the party. Then I took off around the side of the building, stepping over some mulch to reach a half-formed sidewalk that wrapped around the back of the room. If someone peered out of the windows in the party and squinted, I'd probably be visible. I knew I looked ridiculous, sneaking around my own party, but I hadn't thought through an excuse if somebody asked me what I was up to.

I found Andrew at the back of the building, which overlooked a small pond. He was picking up rocks from the edge and hurling them as far as he could into the water. After years of lacrosse and soccer he had a strong throwing arm, and the rocks flew out of eyesight before they descended into the pond.

"Andrew!"

He dropped the rock he was holding and turned around, his eyes wide. He looked surprised to see me, as if it were completely normal to sneak out of a party and not expect the birthday girl to notice. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

I snorted. "I needed to get some air, so I thought I'd go for an evening swim." When his expression didn't change at all, I said, "I came here to find you, silly."

"But why? Everyone you want at your party is inside."

"Since you and I are both outside, that's definitely not true." I took a few steps closer to him, my heels sinking in the damp soil. "Why don't you come back inside?"

Rubbing his hands on his khakis, he said, "I don't need to be there. You made it clear last night how things are between me and you."

"But I thought—"

"Yeah, I know." His tone was abrupt. "That's before I saw you with Cody. You two belong together. I'm just getting in the way, and I see that now. Have you noticed the way he looks at you? He would go to the moon for you."

"I know," I said quietly. It was true that Cody and I had had an amazing six months together, and it was true what we felt for each other hadn't become any less potent.

Andrew turned back to the pond and picked up another rock. I didn't think I'd ever seen him lash out at anything, but here he was, exercising his little-known temper by slinging pebbles into water.

"You could hit a fish, you know," I said. "What did the fish ever do to hurt you?"

"Seriously, Quinn?"

I bit my lip as my attempt at humor backfired. "Why don't you just come back inside?"

"I don't think you understand," he said. His voice still had that harsh edge to it as a rock hits the water. "If I go in there I have to stand there and watch you with Cody." Another rock in the pond. "I have to go in there and know that it could be me—" Another rock—"But it's not. It's Cody Marlett instead."

"Andrew, you're the one who broke up with me," I pointed out. "Maybe if you hadn't, things would have been different."

"Can you be certain? I think you liked Cody even then, when you were with me. Those kinds of feelings don't spring up out of nowhere."