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“Who wants ice cream?” I finally ask, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. It’s fine for the first few minutes of girls’ night to be emotional, but you never want it to last the entire night.
Savanna clears her throat and smiles. “Mint chip sounds heavenly right about now.”
Bethany narrows her eyes. “Not if I get to it first.” Before Savanna or I can react, Bethany shoots up from her spot on the floor and rushes into the kitchen.
I chuckle and shake my head. “She’s going to be really disappointed when she sees I got two of the mint chips.”
Savanna sighs as she gets up, then frowns at me. “What if he can’t allow himself to be happy again, Autumn?”
“It’s not our place to worry about that. If he wants to be alone for the rest of his life, letting the fear take over, then that’s all on him. You can’t force him to be with someone.”
She reaches out and squeezes my arm gently. “Are you okay?”
I shrug. “I wish I would’ve gotten more than a note letting me know he left, but I’m not sure why I expected anything different.”
There’s a screeching from the kitchen that has Savanna and I hightailing it in there, then we come to a halt in the doorway.
Bethany is standing at the counter, but the most alarming thing is all the ice cream that seems to have been flung through the space. There are drops on the island, fridge, ceiling, everywhere I look is a tiny speck.
“Uh,” Bethany says. “I kinda forgot to put the lid on the blender?”
Savanna and I glance at each other, then we bend over in fits of laughter until I can’t breathe. This is what I’ll be missing if I leave town, but what else am I supposed to do?
Chapter Fifteen
Easton
It’s been a rough few days.
Maybe it was the coward’s way out to call my boss the morning after my date with Autumn, asking him if he had any work for me, but Autumn makes me feel things I don’t know what to do with and the only thing I could think to do was to put some space between us.
Even though I was miles away, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about her and what she was doing. When I lay in bed at night, all I could wish for was Autumn to be laying next to me, her body entangled with mine.
When I pull up outside my house, there’s no sign of Autumn’s car in the driveway and I wonder where she is.
I pull my phone out and ask Autumn where she and Bethany are and I smile when she responds that she’s in town with Savanna.
Since I don’t know how long they are going to be out, I choose to take some time for myself and give Elijah a call. He answers on the third ring, pans clanking in the background. “Yo?”
“Hey, do you want to get drinks tonight?” I ask him.
He sighs. “I should probably get started on preparing food for tomorrow when I close the shop.”
I groan loudly. “Come on, man, when was the last time we went out?”
He’s silent for a few moments as if deep in thought, then he gives in. “Yeah, okay. I’m not staying out late though. I have a big day tomorrow.”
“No problem. I’ll meet you at the bar around eight.”
He hums in response just as crash sounds in the background, then a string of curses escape his lips. “Gotta go.” I don’t have time to respond before he’s hanging up on me, then I glance around the living room curiously.
It seems as though Autumn managed to get cleaning done, so I don’t even have to worry about doing that. I send another text to Autumn asking what time they’ll be home and when she says they’re staying in town to get dinner, I let her know my plans with Elijah. I make sure to tell her I won’t be home late and then decide to relax until it’s time to leave.
The bar is its usual crowded self when I walk through the front entrance, my eyes cutting across the string of people until they land on Elijah’s form tucked in the back corner. He’s already nursing a beer when I come to stop next to him, then I nod my head at the bartender to bring me my own bottle before sinking into the seat next to my best friend.
“You look cheery tonight,” I say with a chuckle.
He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head, then chugs some of his beer. “That woman is fucking everywhere.”
