Darla’s mouth drops open as she just stares at Brynlee, and I want to push her. “You could be a model.”
Swallowing, Brynlee forces a smile. “I’ve done some. Nothing big or anything.”
“You’re kiddin’!” she cries and jumps up. “I’m goin’ to have to make sure to put more effort into my appearance if I’m goin’ to be hangin’ around you. Which I suspect I will.”
I shoot her a look, and she shoots one right back with narrowed eyes. Her patentedshut up, I know what I’m talking aboutlook.
“You look great,” Brynlee says. “I’ve always loved dark hair, but it just washes me right out. And I love your eyes.”
Waving a hand in the air, Darla runs her free hand over her hair. “Oh, whatever. You could be Miss USA with those baby blues, babe.”
She shakes her head and looks at the bar top. “Never made it past Miss Ohio. Which is okay with me. I’m not the biggest fan of parading across a stage in an evening gown.”
“Shut up!”
“Sorry?”
“It’s a phrase that was popular about two decades ago, and Darla’s never let it go,” I say in her ear. “What would you like to drink?”
Swallowing again, she looks up with fear in her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t really drink. How about a soda? Seems to be the safest option to keep my wits about me while I’m on display.”
“One soda comin’ up. Diet?”
“Regular, please. I have an issue with the chemicals in diet. Not that the sugar in regular is much better. And I’m going to listen to Darla and shut up now.”
“Well, Bryn… Can I call you Bryn?” Darla says as I walk down the bar to get Jake’s attention.
He leans forward immediately. “You got the new girl! Good for you, man!”
“We’re friends,” I say. “I need a beer and a soda.”
“Diet?”
“Regular.”
He laughs. “You heard that wrong.”
“No, she wants regular.”
“Girls like that eat like birds. They drink zero calorie drinks, and they run for hours on treadmills. Probably while wearin’ high heels. Didn’t I just hear her say she was Miss USA?”
“Miss Ohio,” I say. “And I’ve seen her eat. She doesn’t eat like a bird, and there’s no treadmill that I’ve seen at her house.”
He gives me a sad but knowing look as he pours the drinks. “Yeah, you are just a friend.”
“Pardon?”
“Sorry, bud, but girls like that don’t eat in front of men they want to have sex with. Not until they’ve been together for months. If you’ve seen her eat, you’re in the friend zone.”
Taking the drinks, I turn to find Tim talking to Brynlee. The handsome, gym rat player who’s had every single woman in the county, and the nearest three, at least once. The type of guy who would swoop in and take Brynlee from me without any effort.
It annoys me how I can’t deny how much better she looks with Tim than she does with me. Maybe if I went to the gym, it would help.
No, it wouldn’t. I’d have to cut out beer, and I’m not that committed. Not when it’s the only thing that helps fill the void being thirty-five, the only single family member over the age of seventeen, and no prospects for a wife or kid brings. The beer is a must to keep me functioning as though I’m not a man destined to die alone, spending his days yelling at kids to stay off his lawn.
Tim’s chiseled jaw and distractingly gray eyes make all the women swoon the way Brynlee does to just about every man inhere. I try to find an opening to bring her the drink without coming off like a cockblock. I may not be happy about Tim moving in on the girl I walked in here with, but this isn’t a date. No matter how much I wish it was.
As she turns her head, I see Brynlee tugging on her earring.Hold on… she wants me to save her?The two best looking people in town talking together should fit like a puzzle, but I can’t stop the smile spreading on my face knowing she wants an out.
