Fake Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,21
I mean, from what I’ve been told… things aren’t good, you know?”
“Ah, right,” Gia said. “Our mothers’ kind of know each other.”
“Oh?”
“They’re kind of… cougars.”
“Cougars?”
Gia smiled. “They’re both single and prefer guys under the age of thirty.”
“Ew,” I said.
“Exactly,” Gia said. “Anyway… I get it. My parents split a long time ago. That was part of my anxiety and the running thing. I would try to run away but then feel better and come home. My mother kind of let me do what I needed to do.”
“Your father left you?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Gia said. “He came home from work and said he couldn’t do it anymore. He was living a lie. Which everyone knew. I mean, I was young, but I could see it. They hated each other. Then they started their freebie nights.”
“What’s a freebie night?” I asked.
Gia laughed. “They started fucking other people.”
“Oh,” I said.
I felt my face blush.
Gia touched my arm. “Hey, I have to finish this run. If I don’t hit a certain mileage I’m going to be crawling out of my skin. Fucking anxiety.”
“Shit, right,” I said. “I’m holding you up.”
“I know where you live,” Gia said. “Um… I mean… when I’m done running…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Meet me out back?”
“Cool,” Gia said. She backed up. “Sorry I have to ask this, but… you really don’t remember anything?”
“No,” I said. “Why?”
“I just kind of feel like this is a set up. Like I’ll show up and you’ll be there with Evie and Darcy to just be cunts to me.”
I swallowed hard. “That won’t happen. I saw Evie and Darcy once in the hospital and haven’t heard from them since.”
“That sounds about right,” Gia said. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Gia looked at the running watch thing on her wrist and took off.
I looked at Tank Two and frowned.
No way was I driving that thing just yet.
“Oh, you’ve made a friend.”
I cringed when I heard my mother’s voice.
Gia made a quick move and swiped the bottle of vodka off the bottom deck step and put it behind the railing in the sand.
“You sort of know her,” I said. “Gia.”
“I don’t know anyone named Gia,” my mother said.
“We’ve met before,” Gia said. “I live over there. My mother is Gail.”
“Oh, you’re Gail’s daughter?” my mother asked. “I thought you were taller. Chunkier too. Hmm…”
What a bitch.
I cringed again, feeling bad for Gia.
She didn’t seem to mind. “Yeah, I probably weighed a little more than the last time you saw me. I’ve been running more. I’m able to see a problem and fix it.”
“Good for you,” my mother said. “How is your mother?”
“On the hunt,” Gia said.
My mother laughed. “We all are. Right, Winter?”
“Please,” I said to her. “Please…”
“Oh, sure, drink everything out of my cabinet but treat me like shit,” my mother said.
She wandered back into the house.
“I’m sorry about her,” I said.
“Don’t be,” Gia said. “My mother is the same.”
“What is wrong with them?”
“Two things. Time. And stretch marks.”
I laughed. “I just don’t like them.”
“Stretch marks? Who does?”
“No. I meant… our mothers. They’re bad people.”
“But we can learn from them,” Gia said as she crouched down to get the bottle of vodka. “We can decide not to be shitty like them.”
She took a drink of the vodka and handed it to me.
I took a big drink.
I needed it.
“Want to do something fun?” Gia asked.
“Sure.”
“Come with me…”
She hurried down the beach and I followed her.
She started to go into the water and I hesitated.
“I don’t think I like the water,” I said.
“Do you remember that?”
“I don’t know…”
Gia came out of the water and grabbed my hand. “Take another drink and shut up.”
I took another drink and stepped into the cool ocean water.
We only went into the water until it was about knee high.
“I love doing this,” Gia said. “Just stand here. Feel the waves moving around you. Look at the stars. Sometimes you can see ship lights way off in the distance. It’s just… I don’t know… it’s like you’re here but not.”
Blame the vodka, but Gia was right.
It was kind of fun to do.
We stood there for a while.
“Not so bad, right?” Gia asked.
“Not really.”
“I know you don’t remember anything, but I hope we can hang out some more. I’m not sure what your plan is with BFH but I can give you a ride there.”
“Why are you being nice to me?” I asked.
“You were nice to me a few times,” Gia said. “You don’t remember though.”
I honestly didn’t remember.
“We were really young,” Gia added. “And