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DAISY

Twin: Do you not love me anymore? Am I nothing to you?

Twin: I knew I shouldn’t have let you out of my house. Now that you’re free, you’ve forgotten about me.

Twin: You’ve given me no choice. I’ll be showing up sometime when you’re not expecting a visit.

Johnny’s textsflood my phone a few minutes after Delaney and I order our lunch. I read them between sips of iced tea and roll my eyes before replying.

Me: I love you too, J.

“Do you have any siblings, Della?”

My friend uses her straw to mix the whipped cream piled on top of her milkshake deeper into the glass.

“I have a younger brother.”

“How old is he? And is he as needy as my brother, or isthat just a twin thing?”

Her lips twitch. “Is that who was making your phone light up? Grayson is twenty-five.”

“Wait, how old are you? I can’t believe I haven’t asked you that before!”

“I turned thirty a couple of months ago.”

“Oh, so a few years older than me. It feels like we could be the same age.”

“I’ll take the compliment,” she says, taking a sip of her milkshake.

The milkshakes from the Rustic Ridge diner are really good. I remember getting one every weekend until I turned fifteen and realized how badly that much dairy upset my stomach. That’s when I found an uncurable addiction to iced tea.

“To answer your question, yes, it’s Johnny that’s blowing up my phone. He’s feeling a bit unloved because of how busy I’ve been the past couple of weeks. Honestly, I’m not used to being home so much anymore. It’s more difficult to balance life and work and relationships than I remember from before I left for school. I used to come home for the summer, but I was staying at my parents’ house, and having a girlfriend wasn’t really anything I had to work my life around,” I admit, dumping my entire life story on my poor friend.

Delaney doesn’t seem to mind, at least. She offers me a soft, understanding smile and pushes her drink away with her knuckles.

“I get it. And I don’t think it ever gets easier. At least not while you’re surrounded by so many people. I haven’t had that issue in quite a while now.”

“Why? You’ve just been keeping to yourself?”

“You could say that. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to share my life with anyone.”

I tongue my cheek, debating whether or not to say the words that have formed on my tongue. It could be how much time I’ve spent around Bryce that’s encouraged me to be more honest, ormaybe it’s just the type of person I’m growing into. Either way, I decide to go with my gut.

“When was the last time? Was it . . . with Darren?”

Hesitation flashes in her gaze as she looks up. I keep my expression open and honest, hoping she can tell that I don’t mean any harm with the question. I’m just unbearably curious recently. Especially after speaking with Bryce and learning little bits and pieces.

Della inhales a long, heavy breath before snatching her cup back and taking two long drags of the milkshake. Once she’s done, she drags the tip of her finger through a piece of icy snow on the table that’s fallen from the side of her frozen cup.

“Bryce has told you about me and him, hasn’t she?”

“Only because I asked. She didn’t tell me too much. Nothing specific. I wanted to hear it from you, whenever you were comfortable sharing,” I rush out, my cheeks so hot they have their own heartbeat.

“It’s okay. I know Bryce isn’t the type to gossip. She never was.” Delaney tucks her hair behind her ears and then spreads the melting ice along the edge of the table. “Darren is my past. I’ve tried not to let that time of my life dictate my present and future, so no, the last time I shared my life with someone was not Darren.”

“Is it too early in our friendship to ask what happened?”