The Replacement Girlfriend

Chapter 33

33. The Case of the Ex

Finding Pete was a lot easier than Krislynn thought it would be. At first, she thought he was secretly some sort of magical elf, hiding in between cracks and openings she couldn’t possibly find, but then she realized he was only sitting on the back patio having a smoke and felt a little stupid for even thinking up the possibility. Pushing the screen door open, she stepped outside onto the sturdy wooden floor and tiptoed quietly up to him. He was sitting on the wooden railings, both legs hanging off the other side, and if she sneaked up behind him, she was sure he’d tip over and fall into the sand below.

Krislynn bit her lip and held her breath. Slowly. Slowly.

He turned around. “Good morning cutie. What are you up to?”

Krislynn let out a long moan before taking a seat on one of the patio chairs. “Actually I was going to be super mean and scare you,” she said with a displeased look. “But then you turned around at just the wrong moment.”

Pete chuckled. “Well technically you still can,” he said with a little smirk. Skilfully, he slipped his cigarette into his mouth and held the filter steady with his lips as he covered his face with both hands. “Come on. I’ll pretend to be scared. I promise.”

“Ha-ha. Now you’re just making fun of me.”

Again, he laughed before spinning around and jumping down from the railing. “So did you just come out to chill with good old Pete or is there something you want from me?”

“Oh right.” Krislynn stood up immediately. “Breakfast. I was looking for you to tell you breakfast should be ready soon. I thought you’d still be in bed nursing your hangover, but you seem alive and well.”

“Yup, I’m feeling fine. Oh, sit down!” A smile, and a rather scary one Krislynn thought to herself, suddenly grew across Pete’s face. “We haven’t really talked one on one yet. Let’s have some bonding time.”

“Okay. As if that’s not creepy.”

Pete made a face and Krislynn laughed before settling back down. “Okay. A quickie. What do you want to know about me?”

After taking a second to put out his cigarette, Pete sat down across from her and rested both elbows on the table before cupping his face in his hands. He looked extremely excited for whatever the reason and Krislynn couldn’t help but think of him as a little kid. “Well Chase briefly touched on your background when I asked him about it before,” he replied. “He said you thought your best friend eloped with a guy to Mexico and that’s how you ended up there, right?”

Krislynn nodded before he continued. “And also your boyfriend at the time completely ditched and left you with nothing and you didn’t even have a place to stay, right?” She nodded again. “My question is: why didn’t you stay with another friend instead of looking for your bff? You must have another one hidden somewhere.”

The question caught Krislynn off guard and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat for a moment. “I don’t really have many close friends,” she replied. “I guess I could have found a couple of people to stay with, jump around from acquaintance to acquaintance, but that would be too similar to my childhood.” She peered at him nervously through her eyelashes. “You know, like moving around from foster home to foster home – they’re always nice to you, but they don’t actually really want you there.”