Mind the Gap (In Too Deep) (21 page)

"Brit, what the hell? We've been calling. I almost kicked your door down. Go open it and let me—"

I hung up.

The eighth grader was back.

I couldn't help myself. There was no way I could see Josh in the puffy-eyed condition I was in, and I was planning on ignoring him and our sad situation as long as possible. I sent Gretchen a text before Josh could do something stupid like walk over here again.

Me: "Tell Josh I'm sorry, but I need to be alone right now. I'm not feeling good, and I can't see anybody. I'm fine and
I'll let you guys know if I need anything. Please just give me a little space."

Less than a minute
later, I heard Gretchen and Josh arguing by my front door. 

Chapter 24

Josh

"Fuck space,"
I yelled. "I don't care what the little text said. She's on the other side of this door, and I'm gonna talk to her."

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I'm not allowing you to kick my door down," Gretchen argued, "That's a little overboard."

"Then give me the key, Gretchen." I said. I stuck my hand out, but Gretchen could be extremely stubborn when she wanted.

She shook her head defiantly. "She just needs a little space, Josh.
She asked me to make sure nobody bothered her."

I was just about to get impatient. I took a deep, calming breath. "I am her
boyfriend
, Gretchen, she wasn't including me when she said she didn't want to be
bothered
."

"
She was
specifically
talking about you, Josh! And if she wanted you in there, she'd be opening the door. She knows you're out here."

I sighed and raked a frustrated hand through my hair. "
I'm going to talk to her whether you give me the key or not."

"Like hell you are!" Gretchen yelled.

Joel was crossing the pool area to make sure everything was okay. I took a small step back so he didn't think I was trying to threaten Gretchen. The last thing I needed was another fight. I directed my words toward Joel.

"My girl is on the other side of that door, and all I'm asking is that she let me in so I can talk to her."

"
Brit's
the one who doesn't want him in there, not me," Gretchen said.

"Brit's just mad because I missed our Christmas plans. I just need to explain what happened."

"Don't you think she knows what happened?" Gretchen asked, in disbelief. "She knows
exactly
what happened, and that's why she's upset, genius."

"What are you talking about? Does she know I got hurt?"

"Of course she knows you got hurt, and she knows
who
hurt you too." Gretchen rolled her eyes at me. "Just an FYI Josh, it's a little bit of a pisser when your so-called boyfriend goes all cave man on his ex-wife's new man."

I was silent as I
considered what she was saying. "How do you know that's what's wrong with her?" I asked.

"Because, duh, Josh," Gretchen said, throwing her arms into the air. "Think about it."

I realized she might be right.

"I couldn't care
less
about Kayla or her new man," I said. I was just about yelling it in hopes that Brit would hear me through the door. "He picked a fight with me and then he stabbed me in the fucking shoulder with a piece of glass. I didn't want to fight
him
. I didn't want to see
her
. For Christ's sake, he stabbed me when I wasn't even looking."

We were all silent for a minute, sort of waiting to see if Brit would open the door
after hearing this news. She never did.

"Just let her cool down a little bit, Josh," Joel said. "Come back
later."

"
I don't have a choice," I said, looking at my wristwatch. "I have to go pick something up, but I'll be back in a couple of hours." Then I raised my voice when I added, "and when I get back, I'm going in there."

****

It took me a little longer than I expected. It was more like four hours instead of two, and by the time I got back to Brit's place it was almost five in the evening. Brit should have been with me to do this errand. I put a lot of thought into the whole thing, and I was a little pissed that the shoulder stabber had screwed with my plans. If things would have gone like I expected, we would have spent the night together on Christmas, then I would have taken her with me to pick up her Christmas gift. As it stood, I was stuck picking the damn thing up by myself, and I didn't even know if she'd want it once I got back to her house.

I couldn't stand the thought of Brit being hurt
by me running into Kayla. If anything, seeing my ex just confirmed how glad I was she'd left me. I wasn't about to let a misunderstanding destroy a good thing. I left the present in my truck, and went to knock on Brit's door, praying she'd open it without a fight. I rang the bell then stepped back and waited for her to answer.

Nothing.

I put my fist to the door a few times, giving it a good knock that I knew she'd be able to hear.

Nothing.

A moment later, mom's phone started beeping, and I fished it from my pocket to read the incoming text.

Brit: "You said
two hours. I thought you'd be back by now."

I smiled when I read it, knowing
that if that were her only complaint, she'd be getting over it once she saw her present.

Josh: "Open the door so you can ask me to my face."

Brit: "You can't see my face right now, I've had a rough day."

Josh: "Open the door so you can tell me about it.
I need to see you."

Brit: "I'm
gonna open the door, because we need to talk, but let me warn you, I don't think everything's gonna be okay."

My heart sank when I read that last text, and I wondered what
the hell I'd done to make her so upset.

A few seconds later, her front door opened just a crack.
She didn't stay at the door to greet me, but I pushed it open and followed her inside. The shades were drawn, and the guesthouse looked dark and dismal. She was all curled up on the couch with her arms around her knees. As I approached, she smiled at me, but I could tell she'd been crying.

"Baby," I said, sorrowfully. "What in the world has you
this upset?"

"Don't
Josh," she warned, narrowing her eyes at me. "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Don't make
what
any harder?" I asked in disbelief. "You're talking like we're breaking up or something." I sat beside her and she flinched at my touch, which made me feel even worse than I already did.

"How could we be broken up if we never were together?" she asked. 

I just looked at her, dumbfounded. "I thought we
were
together, Britney."

"Don't call me that, and don't say we were together, because if we were, your mom would have known who the hell I was when I called to check on you. Instead she just explained to the random girl how you'd been in a fight over your ex-wife."

I groaned inwardly, knowing I had no excuse for the mom thing.

"
I didn't get in a fight
over
Kayla. I didn't even
fight
that guy. He stabbed me and I knocked him out, end of story. As far as my mom goes, I don't know what to tell you. Do
your
parents know about
me
?"

"Yes they do
Josh. They met you
remember
?"

"Do they know we're together?"

"As a matter of fact, they do. But now I'm gonna have to call them and tell them different, because you're an asshole who can't own up to being my boyfriend." The corner of her mouth twitched, showing the hint of a smile, and I knew I still had a chance.

I put my arms around her, and she stiffened at first, but then I could feel
her relax. I broke the hug and leaned back on the couch so I could pull my mom's phone out of my pocket. I pushed the appropriate buttons to call my parent's landline and put the phone to my ear.

"What are you doing?" Brit whispered, a little panicked. She tried to grab the phone away from me, but I turned so she couldn't easily reach it.

"Hey dad, is mom there?" I stared into space as I waited for my mom to pick up. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Brit was watching me. "Hey mom, do you remember a girl calling the house to check on me? Yeah, mom, I'm okay. I'm talking about a girl. Yeah, mom, my shoulder's fine. Everything's fine. I'm just calling to let you know that the girl who called to check on me, her name's Britney Nelson. She's my girlfriend, and the only reason I didn't tell you about her was because I didn't want you to worry about me. But I have a girlfriend. Her name's Britney, Brit… everybody calls her Brit. She's an artist and a singer and she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. (A pause) Yes, I'm okay mom. I just felt bad that my girlfriend called and you didn't know who she was, that's all. Yes, I like her mom, why else would I be calling? I will, I promise. I'll bring her soon, it may not be this week or anything, but we'll come down. I will, I promise, but I gotta go mom. Love you. Yeah, okay, love you too."

I slid the phone onto the coffee table and looked at Brit who was now looking a little sheepish.

"I feel terrible that you felt like you needed to do that, Josh. Now I feel like your mom thinks I made you—"

"Stop," I said. "I should have told her about you before that.
My parents are just really overprotective and I knew there would be a thousand questions."

"I'm sorry it had to go down like that," she said, shrugging. "Now I feel like a big baby. I'm embarrassed to meet her now."

I hugged her. "Okay, listen to me Brit, I wanted to call her just now. I wanted her to know you're my girlfriend. I'm proud of you, and
I want you to meet my parents. You should have just come home with me for Christmas. If you would have, none of this would've happened in the first place. You wouldn't have been all puffy eyed, and more importantly, you wouldn't have missed out on coming with me to pick up your Christmas gift just now."

"What gift?" she asked. 

"The one that's waiting in the truck."

She gave me a skeptical glance and pu
shed at my shoulder. "Are you messing with me?"

"
Oh, watch out, baby," I said, touching my shoulder instinctively at the pain.

She gasped. "I'm so sorry Josh. Oh, God, I didn't even ask you about your shoulder. I feel like such a bad person. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine," I said. I tried to sound casual, but I'd quit the pills, and my whole left side was throbbing. "It could have been a lot worse. One inch in ether direction and it could have done some damage. It went in at the perfect angle too. The doctor said I was really lucky."

"I'm really sorry I hit you just now, and I'm sorry you got hurt
in the first place. And I agree about what you said. I should have just come home with you for Christmas. We'll have to fix that next year."

"
You're right," I said, "and we'll have plenty of time to talk about that, but we need to get back to that Christmas gift because it's time sensitive."

"Time sensitive?"

Brit was too curious to hang around any longer. She sprang off of the couch and ran for the door. I followed a few paces behind her, wondering what she'd do when she opened my truck door.

She gasped and jumped back, covering her mouth with her hands in shock.

"Oh, my God, Josh. It's a, you got, it's my, is this the exact one? Is this Arlo? Oh my God, it's Arlo isn't it? You're Arlo, aren't you boy? How'd you get—did you go to that breeder?"

I didn't even answer her. I just watched as she took t
he bullmastiff puppy out of the backseat of my truck and snuggled him to her chest, closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against his fur.

"You like him?"
I asked.

She opened her eyes and regarded me like I must be
out of my mind for asking such a question.

"I
love
him," she said. "I can't believe you got the exact puppy I wanted." Then something suddenly dawned on her. "Josh you can't get me this puppy. Do you know how much he cost?"

"
Oh that was nothing compared to what I just spent on supplies at the pet store—which
you
should have probably been there to help me pick out."

"I can't believe you did all this, Josh.
" she hugged me again, and I loved how excited she was. "What supplies? Did you stop and get some stuff?"

I walked to the back of the truck and let the tailgate down. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the vast array of puppy stuff I'd just purchased from
PetSmart. I bought a kennel, food bowls, chew toys, a soft bed, some food, some treats, and last but not least, a collar and leash complete with a personalized name tag with Brit's address and phone number. I dug the collar out of a plastic bag and handed it to Brit to inspect.

"I'm speechless Josh. It's the best Christmas gift I've ever
been given. I would refuse it just on principal that it cost too much, but I want him
too much
to send it all back. I'm afraid I'm gonna be keeping him. I guess I'll just have to feel indebted to you for giving me such an elaborate gift."

"You're not indebted to me Brit—"
I was about to mention the painting, but my sentiment was cut short by the realization that maybe she
wanted
to be indebted to me. You know, like in a hot way. "I mean, yeah, you're gonna owe me
big
for this one."