“What can I get you folk—” Her gaze lands on Cody, green eyes widening. “Did anyone—has anyone ever told you that you look like?—”
“You should hear me sing,” Cody croons.
The waitress’s gaze swings to Sloane.
“Yeah, it’s him,” Sloane confirms.
The woman’s sparkly-shadowed eyes track toward me. “I know you, too. I just can’t place you.”
“We’ll have a round of Sprites,” I say with a polite smile.
She looks like she wants to say more, but nods and moves off, squinting at me over her shoulder.
I stare at the table and try to corral my thoughts, which is a losing battle with Cody’s words ricocheting through my brain.
Stop being a pussy.
As if the thing preventing me from telling Sloane how I feel is cowardice and not the bone-deep certainty that loving a person means potentially losing them, or worse—losing them after watching them suffer.
Except that’s exactly what it is. Dressed up in legitimate fear, sure, but still cowardice at its core.
Cody gestures toward the section of the bar with pool tables and darts. “Looks like we’ve got a minute before the dancing starts.” He aims a finger at Sloane. “How are you at pool?”
“Terrible,” she says.
“Great. Wanna be my partner?”
She glances at me, a question in her eyes.
“Good luck,” I tell her.
“I don’t know which one of us needs it more,” she answers.
I do,I think. But I keep it to myself.
They head toward the pool tables, Cody explaining some elaborate trick shot he claims to have invented. Sloane is laughing before they reach the table, her head tipped back, and the tenderness that ripples through me is almost painful.
The waitress returns with three Sprites and sets them down.
“I loved your song,” she says.
I’m still watching Sloane. “Thanks.”
“I kept waiting for a follow-up album.”
“Not my path,” I say with a shrug.
“Cody Cassidy is awesome.”
“He’s talented,” I agree.
“And single?” she asks with a smirk.
“Yeah.”
“And you?”
I pull in a quick breath. Across the bar, Sloane bends over the pool table, lining up a shot. Cody shakes his head at whatever she’s doing wrong, and she is clearly ignoring his advice, which is one of about a hundred things I love about her.
