“And he was fine with that?”
“He was.” I shrug. “He loves Logan.”
She nods her head, taking another sip of her overly sweet coffee. “I mean, I get it. Logan’s the first guy to sort of be a father figure to him. I mean, aside from your dad and Ryan’s. And he’s ready for it?”
“He knows Jake will always be my number one priority, and I know we’re in the so-called honeymoon phase, but he’s been amazing. The guy went out of his way to plan a date that both Jake and I would enjoy. Most men couldn’t be bothered to do something like that.” That day and every day since have been perfect. I know there will come a point when we have our first argument, but the communication between us has been so open that I’d like to think we can resolve any issue.
“I can’t wait to meet him officially. Gotta check him out and make sure he’s the right guy for my bestie.”
“Just be nice,” I tease. “Plus, you kind of already met him. You’re the one who pointed him out to me at The Stampede.”
“The fucking Stampede,” she groans, pushing her mug to the side, dropping her head into her palms.
“What’s going on now?” I ask. As far as I know, everything with the bar has been going really well since. She would’ve mentioned it by now if something was wrong, but then again, it’s not exactly uncommon for Liv and her sister, Tilly, to argue over business. “Did something happen with Tilly?”
“Nope,” she says, popping the p. “But guess who came in yesterday and asked if we’d be willing to host a community event?”
“Who?”
“Gray.”
My brows furrow at her answer. “The fire department is planning an event?”
She picks her head up, resting her chin in her palm as she reaches for her coffee with the other. “I guess so. They want to use the bar and sent him to ask. Guess they figured I wouldn’t say no to him.”
“Would you?”
“Probably not. As much as I’m starting to feel like I should put some distance between us, he’s my friend. And it’s for the town.” She shrugs. “It’s not like I’d be doinghima favor.”
Liv and Grayson had something back in high school. She never told me why things between them didn’t work, but they’ve remained friends. She has dated other people but never anything serious, always managing to find fault with the person she’s dating. Liv lets even the smallest annoyance be the reason the relationship ends. Like the guy who moved his hands too much while talking, or the one who made a weird gulping sound when drinking from a bottle of water. Then there was the guy who enunciated every word he spoke as though it was the only way to get his point across, and the one who ended every statement with “You know what I mean?”
“Even if it was just for him, would that really be so bad?” I ask. I can’t say Gray and I are friends, but I’ve never heard anything bad about him. He volunteers with the fire department, and he’s been friendly when I’ve seen him around town or at the bar. He’s always a bit more flirty toward Liv. The guy has a reputation for being a fuckboy. Not that I’d ever slut shame, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who will settle down anytime soon.
She sighs. “No, but it’s hard to be around him sometimes. I don’t know if he remembers what happened, and I doubt anything haschanged, but every so often when he looks at me, I swear he feels the same way.”
I fold my arms over my chest and give her a knowing look.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s all in my head. Because if it’s not, and he’s still choosing to flaunt women in front of me, then he’s an asshole.”
Grabbing the coffee pot, I fill up a to-go cup for her, well aware she’s not going to finish the coffee in her hands and will ask for one to take with her. “Have you tried talking to him about it? See if maybe he feels the same way you do and doesn’t know how to approach you.”
“Right,” she says, dragging the word out as she reaches for her coffee. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
I roll my eyes at her and smile. “So, what are you going to do about using the bar for the event?”
She shrugs, sliding off the stool. “Let them use it and do my best to avoid him that night.” She grabs the to-go cup and raises it toward me. “Thanks for this. I should get back over there before Tilly burns the place down.”
“You keep throwing that out to the universe, and it’ll come true,” I warn her teasingly.
“You two have always been at each other’s throats. Not sure why y’all decided to run a business together,” Loretta says as she walks out of her office, clearly having overheard some of our conversation.
Liv nods her head toward me. “At least Tess here has a hunky firefighter who’ll come put the fire out.”
Loretta raises a brow as she looks at me. “A firefighter, huh?” Heat crawls across my cheeks, but before I have a chance to respond to her comment, she says, “I know it’s last-minute and you’ve got that boy ofyours to pick up, but is there any chance you can stay to cover the first half of Kate’s shift? She just called in and said she’s going to be late, but I’ve got an appointment I can’t miss. Hank will still be in the kitchen, but I need someone to take care of customers until I get back or until she shows up.”
The words “I can’t” are on the tip of my tongue, but I hesitate. I don’t remember the last time I had the chance to work a few extra hours. The money would be nice, especially with the holidays around the corner, but it would mean having someone else get Jake from school and watch him for a few hours until I can get out of here. Besides my parents, Liv is the only other person on his emergency contact list at school. She never hesitates to offer help when I need it, but I know she needs to be heading back to work, and I’d hate to keep her from getting anything done. It’s not like he can hang out at the bar while she works.
Logan is off today and tomorrow, and he has said he wants to spend as much time with us as he can before he heads back in, but I doubt he meant spending one-on-one time with Jake. And even if he did, am I ready for that? Is he?
