Page 168 of Next to Everything We Wanted

Dad shook his head before singing a song from the top of his head. “I could’ve taken you around the world, I could’ve taken you to new heights.”

I stopped boxing and covered my ears. While Mom had given me some musical genes, Dad didn’t have a musically inclined bone in his body. He couldn’t evenclapon key.

“Stop it!” I made weird noises with my tongue in hopes it’d annoy him enough to stop.

Dad only sang the terrible song louder, nearly causing my ears to bleed. “But you threw my love away, now you’re out of sight.”

In the middle of his horrid singing session, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, and his face fell.

I leaned over, catching a glimpse of Mom’s contact picture. “Are you going to answer that?”

Dad let the phone finish ringing, his brows furrowing as if he was trying to make a decision. “I’ll talk to her later,” he said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Today is all about us.”

I nodded, though a thick feeling grew in my throat. Had he changed his mind and thrown the image of having a complete family again away? Or was he still talking to her, holding out hope?

After a few awkward minutes of boxing, I broke the silence. “What’s on your mind?”

Dad shrugged, grabbing his water bottle. “Nothing much. Just thirsty.”

“Same.” I grabbed my own bottle, cooling the heat that coursed through my body.

“Also, do you know what happened to my gray UNLV shirt?”

After working out, Dad drove us down to the Colorado River to swim at the beach—something we hadn’t done together in years. We took a lot of photos, soaking in the summer sun. When we were done, he ordered Cheesy Times and got me my favorite cinnamon sticks.

To end our special day, Dad invited Adam and Emma to watchInside Outwith us. The movie was only five minutes in when Emma faced me. “Is Ivan coming over?” she asked. “We haven’t seen him since Friday night.”

My spirits, which had risen throughout the day, crashed within seconds.

I hadn’t seen Adam and Emma since Friday night, so they had no idea about the hell I’d gone through this weekend. The last thing I wanted to do was rehash it.

Dad swallowed before getting up from his chair. “Um, I’ll let you guys talk about this.” He went into his bedroom, leaving me to explain everything.

Just freakinggreat.

Adam and Emma exchanged confused looks.

“Talk about what?” Adam asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed, a boulder of dread growing in my stomach. “Gavin and I broke up.”

Emma gasped, clasping her hand to her mouth. “WHAT?”

Yeah, I already wanted this conversation to be over.

Adam shook his head. “Not again.”

Emma jabbed him in the ribs. “I was supposed to be your bridesmaid at your beach wedding!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“And I was supposed to be the guy who goes viral for puking during your vows,” Adam said.

I rolled my eyes.

Emma waddled over on her knees and shook my entire body, leaving no mercy with the force she used. “Why would you break up? You were perfect for each other!”

I brushed her hands off me. “We weren’t.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”