I sat up, letting Rem have the full pillow, but kept my hand on her, rubbing my fingers beneath the collar I’d let her pick out at the pet store the day I adopted her.
“How long?” Taylor asked softly, setting her milkshake down on the matte black coffee table before adjusting her shorts to sit cross-legged on the couch.
I shrugged, looking away because I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t like to cry in front of anyone. Generally, I was able to keep the tears from falling, but I knew if I looked at Taylor’s sympathetic eyes right now, I’d be done.
I collected myself before turning my head back to Taylor. “I’m not sure. But it’s getting close. She seems comfortable now, and she’s still drinking.” I forced a smile before changing the subject. “Any news on your car? Do they still think it was the neighborhood kids?” I pulled the ponytail holder out of my long, dark mane, letting it fall to my lower back.
“It was kind of up in the air when they came out to take the report.” Taylor checked her phone and then set it on the table. “The older officer chalked it up to kids being kids, but the other officer made the point that usually if that’s the case, they wouldn’t have targeted just my car. They left the trashcans untouched… didn’t even kick them over, which would have made a huge mess for us to clean up.” She shrugged.
“Do you think it was Ryan?” I asked, smiling down at Remi as she rolled over on her back for me to rub her belly. “He was pretty angry.”
“You know, I thought about that, but it doesn’t really seem his style.” She shook her head. “I feel like he would think something so barbaric was beneath him.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste.
I nodded silently. I could follow that logic, but I also agreed about the kids theory as well. All of the other houses and cars on our street were untouched, which didn’t exactly scream of rowdy kids out celebrating Mischief Night a few weeks early. My stomach knotted and I silently talked myself into calming down. I needed to grasp that he wasn’t coming back for me. I was twenty years old, still hanging on a seven-year-old’s nightmare. He was in prison for the rest of his natural life; there was no way he could reach beyond those bars and hurt me again.
I glanced back at Taylor when she said, “The insurance company is being ridiculous.” She sipped her milkshake and flipped through a graphic novel. “They’re saying they’re not liable, but it’s like, what are you giving people insurance for if you’re not gonna actually pay for anything?” She rolled her eyes and flicked her hair over her shoulder.
“Wow.” I shook my head. “I’ll split it with you. It could have easily been one of us.” I smiled at her and she beamed back, shaking her head.
“You’re the best, but trust me. They’re paying for it if I have to drive down to that office and vandalize their vehicles.” She giggled, and I covered my face with my palm, just because she was laughing didn’t mean she wouldn’t actually do it.
“Oh God. This is freshman year all over again when Laney’s car had that window leak, and they kept telling her there was nothing wrong with it and you…” I couldn’t control the laughter bubbling out through my words.
Taylor finished my thought, nodding enthusiastically. “… threatened to drive through the dealership showroom window if they didn’t fix it immediately.”
After we settled ourselves and stopped laughing, we watched the rest of the Hallmark movie in comfortable silence. Remi and I eventually headed to my room, and instead of cuddling up behind my knees, she shared my pillow, allowing me to hold her close throughout the night.
“You’re the best girl in the whole world,” I told her. I’d had many dogs in my life, and I thought each one of them was the best dog.
I wasn’t wrong.
Beautiful Legend: An Angsty College Romance Page 8