I sighed and stopped a few feet away. This was exactly what I didn’t need.
“Hey, you made it,” Mari said in front of me. None of the ferocity in her gaze that had been there like at our first meeting. She seemed almost breathless and, well, not happy, but maybe cautiously optimistic?
“Who could turn down such a casual, nonthreatening invitation?” I asked as she shrugged innocently. “You look nice,” I said. She froze. “Sorry. Shit. I’m not—that wasn’t me making a pass. I only know you don’t have a boyfriend because my mom told me you were single. And Clara. Small towns.” Her brows crept higher for every piece of information that slipped out of my mouth. This was why it was always better not to speak. Once the words flowed, there was no mystery, just buffoonery. “You know how it is. And the Bunco Broads basically have a running checklist of every newsworthy thing happening in Green Valley. Not that you came up last time. They’ve mostly been filling me in on all I missed in the past ten years or so. Speaking of, did you know Sienna Diaz married Jethro Winston?”
Her features smoothed into an amused smirk. I really wished I’d stopped speaking after I said hi. Wait, had I even said hi? Was this my first night as a human on planet Earth? What was my deal?
“Wow. You really were out of the gossip loop. A lot more has happened since then.” She stepped closer as a passing server brushed by with a full tray over their shoulder. The scent of sweet cherries and almonds drifted to meet me. “Next, you’ll tell me you didn’t know Kip Sylvester was murdered.”
My jaw dropped. “What?” Dropping my head to whisper, I hunched over her. “Guess the Bunco Broads are slacking.” I wasn’t sure if she was messing with me. Her tone was dry, and her face, close enough that I could reach out and touch it, was difficult to read for humor. Another server brushed by us, and we penguin shuffled even closer. I was blocking the main thruway from the kitchen and couldn’t remember how to normally navigate shared spaces with this cursed, lanky body.
“I should let you get back to it. I’m going to go get a drink at the bar.” So I’d stop blabbering.
“They’re actually good to go,” she said. “I was going to go order some food.”
There was an awkward exchange as we both looked to the bar to find the only available seats close together near the end.
“Why don’t you—” I started.
At the same time, she said, “If you want company?—”
This awkward fumbling was so much worse than her two-faced rage at my mom’s. That at least had me playing the cool rock star persona, not whatever the hell this was. Band geek goes on his first date?
Not a date, bro.I could almost hear Vander in my mind, chuckling at me.
Mari had seemed like another person at that first meeting. But then, I hadn’t been a dressed-up goober worried about giving her the right impression. This was why giving a shit about what people thought sucked nuts.
“After you.” I gestured to the high-back bar chairs.
I definitely did not watch her ass as she walked to her seat. I pulled out her chair without thinking. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she sat. “Thanks.”
This wasn’t weird at all. The evening took an unexpected turn. There was too much pressure now. The low-light ambiance wasn’t helping. How was I supposed to tell her my shortcomings in such a romantic atmosphere?
“Drink?” the bartender asked, setting down cocktail napkins.
“Yes,” we both said instantly.
“And a food menu, please. House red is fine for me,” Mari said.
“Just a beer,” I said.
The bartender blinked. “Which kind?”
“There’s more than one?” I asked, surprised. That always worked in the movies.
He turned to point out several taps. “We feature a few nearby breweries.”
“Dark lager?” I asked, getting knocked down at least three cool points. Here I was, back in Green Valley, worrying about seeming cool. I hated this uneven footing I felt in a town that never wanted me.
He nodded and left to get our drinks.
“It’s changed a bit around here since you left, I take it?” Mari asked.
Her legs were crossed, and the slit in her dress went to her midthigh. I cleared my throat and focused on maintaining eye contact.
“I wouldn’t have thought Green Valley would have gotten on the craft beer bandwagon,” I said.
“Cities change, people change.”
