Freddy—because it’s too awkward to check my phone, so he’s just Freddy to me now—slams his drink down on the table with a thump. “Incredible, huh?”
“Uh-huh.”
No idea what he’s talking about.
“And, uh, what happened after that?” I ask because Benji said something I didn’t catch and I need Freddy distracted so I can keep listening.
Not that I care if he dates Carla. I mean, she’s beautiful and interesting. He’d be lucky to see her again.
Besides, he’s the one who walked away from everything with a vagueit’s better this waytext, as if that explained anything and wasn’t the cruelest way to end us.
But that’s Benji. Fucking allergic to feelings from what I can tell—or at least expressing them.
And now he wants to apologize?
Carla nods, her smile soft and fond. Is that how I used to look at him? “Interesting. And where do you see yourself in five years?”
I’m suddenly terrified Freddy is going to ask me a question because I have to hear this.
When we opened the shop, Skye and I sat down and wrote out our own five-year plan—pay off the business loan (we’re ahead of schedule), receive online orders from every state (we’re missing Arizona and Utah, weirdly enough), get a celebrity endorsement (Skye’s pie-in-the-sky addition), and earn a spot on San Diego’s Best of the Best list. It’s still taped to the underside of our register.
In my head, I added a fifth thing, my own personal wish. Fall in love.
Technically, I did, and now he’s sitting beside me and wooing someone else.
“Well …” he starts, slowly tapping his fingers on the table. He does that when he’s thinking. His nails are trimmed and clean, so he definitely scrubbed them before he came out tonight. Put in some effort.
It tugs at my gut before I realize I’m staring, and I immediately turn my head back to Freddy.
Shit.There’s no way that wasn’t noticeable.
There’s a pause before Benji speaks again. “If you’d asked me that question a year ago, I wouldn’t have had an answer. The things I wanted for myself? I just couldn’tpicture having them. Which is kind of a problem when you get a glimpse of the future you dream about. But now? Now I know exactly what I want, and I’m not going to let anything get in my way.”
“Cheers to that,” Carla says, raising her glass, and my stomach drops to the floor.
So, that’s why he’s here tonight. To meet his future.
Me being here is a coincidence. An awful, painful coincidence.
The bell sounds, and I can’t run out of the room fast enough, throwing a quick thank-you to the hosts as I rush out of the ballroom. I don’t care about the bet. I don’t want to hear Benji gloating about his dates or anything else he has to say to me.
The only reason he wants to apologize is so he can move on. I wish I could. I wish I could forget his stupid face and his rough hands and how beautiful he was when he slept.
I wish I’d never met Benji Collins.
Chapter Three
PAIGE
BEFORE
Itap my knuckle against the doorframe. “Knock, knock.”
The guy I’ve spent a week staring at sets a chisel to the side and looks up. I’m struck by how beautiful he is.
“Who’s there?”
I’m not prepared with a joke, but the spark in his eyes makes me want to play. I want to impress him. Keep that smile on his face, but I haven’t heard a knock, knock joke in years, and I’m not a funny person. That’s Skye’s realm.
