CHAPTER 6
RAQUEL
Against my better judgment and my own desires, I met up with Miley at Novo after Avery had invited us both. Despite the fancy-ish name the old owner’s son had given the place when he’d taken over from his dad, it was still just a local dive.
The scent of fried food and whiskey had soaked permanently into the floorboards probably around forty years ago and the lights flickered over the bar like the dead were trying to communicate with us. Pool balls cracked together from the tables in the corner while country music played through tired speakers.
Just like the cafe, Novo could be counted on to remain the same, with the same people taking up the same spots at the same bar they always had. Quartz Pass never really changed much, but that was one of the things I loved about it—even if we did desperately need some rejuvenation.
“I really think he might be the one,” Miley said, her voice breaking into my thoughts. “I’m serious. Ethan is amazing.”
She sat across from me, nursing a margarita with stars in her eyes and her skin practically glowing. It made me want to hug her and throw a peanut at her forehead at the same time. “Didn’t you say the same thing about the guy with the eyebrow ring?”
“That was different,” she insisted, sighing like she couldn’t possibly understand why I didn’t see it. “Josh was just so super physical that he made me feel like I could spend the rest of my life having sex with nobody else. With Ethan, it’s like, a spiritual connection.”
“Spiritual?” I frowned. “You mean, like, church?”
“No.” She looked at me likeshewas about to throw a peanut atmyforehead now. “It’s like, when we’re together, I can see the rest of our lives playing out before my eyes. I can see our wedding and our kids. I can see myself baking a cake for his retirement party fifty years from now and moving into the old folks home together.”
“The old folks home, huh? Now that’s romantic.”
She waved me off dramatically. “It is. What even is love if you can’t imagine still sharing it when you’re old and gray?”
I sighed, hating that she kind of had a point, but hating the bitterness that rose up from deep inside even more. Here she was, with a new boyfriend—not a loser, this time—who taught history at Quartz Pass High and coached the baseball team, and I was still… stuck.
There was this knot in my chest nowadays that I couldn’t seem to get rid of and it just kept winding tighter. Everyone else was moving forward, planning their futures and putting themselves out there. They were moving on in life, but without me.
And I didn’t blame them for it. I was genuinely happy for Miley and all our other friends who were on the marriage-and-babies train. It was just that I felt a bit left behind.
On the other hand, it wasn’t their fault I wasn’t trying to meet someone. Frankly, I had the ick about humanity in general these days. After Hunter and Farrah, I wasn’t sure I would ever fully trust again, and until that changed, I would be where I was now—stuck.
“You’re right,” I finally conceded. “Yeah. No. Of course, you’re right. If you’re thinking about the old folks home, it means you can envision every phase of your life with him and that’s awesome. I’m happy for you, Miley. Really.”
She gave me a soft smile, but then her eyes went wide and movement near the bar caught my attention at the same time, both of us turning as one to watch Theo walk in. My heart gave that same, annoying little leap it’d given earlier at the hardware store at the sight of him.
The ends of his dark hair seemed to be slightly damp, curling a little where it brushed against the collar of his T-shirt. Once again, he was in dark-wash jeans with motorcycle boots on his feet and that easy, confident half-smirk on his lips.
Mileygaspedat the sight of him. “Who isthat?”
I took a sip of beer, suddenly hyperaware of my own posture. “Did you really have to gasp?”
“I did,” she said slowly, finally spinning back to face me. “Someone who looks like that deserves to be gasped about. So, who is he?”
“What makes you think I know?”
She gave me a look. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he’s obviously here with yourbrother.”
I glanced at the bar again, and sure enough, he was sauntering up to Avery, the two of them smacking fists and exchanging a bro-hug as soon as Theo reached Avery’s group. I sighed.So much for not thinking about him around her.
“That’s Theo,” I said after taking another sip of my beer. “His bike crapped out somewhere close by, so he’s staying in town for a bit while we work on it.”
Miley stared at me like I’d found a sexy, shirtless werewolf wandering the desert and had decided to just let it go instead of investigating its appearance. “Are you serious?”
“Yes?”
Theo leaned in beside Avery at the bar, talking to both the bartender and my brother like they’d known each other for years, but then suddenly, he glanced over and caught my eye. I swallowed hard past the sudden dryness in my throat, my ears heating when he gave me a nod in hello.
Without making it weird, he returned smoothly to his conversation, but I just sat there, my heart practically buzzing over the small, non-meaningful gesture. Miley made a soft, distressed noise. “My God, every woman in town is going to lose her mind over him. They’re probably drooling already.”
