Page 4 of Happily Ever Never

Every single person stared at me,their eyes wide.

“Where is he, and what does he look like?” Leo asked. Ishook my head, though I was grateful it seemed he cared.

“I took care of it. Well, I didn’t dump my glass on him butonly because I was out of water.”

“And throwing the glass itself probably wouldn’t have been agreat idea,” Leif murmured.

I shrugged. “Probably.”

Leif looked around and narrowed his gaze once more. “Just soyou know, they’re not allowed to date you.” When he turned and stared at me, Irealized he’d been speaking to me.

“Excuse me?” I squeaked.

“No one in the tattoo shop will hit on you. Because whenthey screw it up, I’d have to get Brooke involved, and it would be a thing.Taryn is great, but she’s dating someone, I think. I don’t really know, though,because she keeps it secret. Tristan can’t figure out what he wants. And Leo isa player.”

Taryn, Tristan, and Leo all spluttered, talking at once, buthe held up his hand. “No dating my friends. That’s the rule.”

I blinked, wondering why the others were okay with himtalking like this. Still, they were laughing, so maybe it was just a thing. Hewasn’t really warning me off, right?

Why was I a little disappointed if he was?

“Leif, I went on a date with you,” I said, laughing after amoment.

Nick and Lake both shook their heads, keeping quiet as theother three stared at me, wide-eyed.

“Once,” Leif said with a roll of his eyes. “And it wasn’tgreat. Your words, not mine.”

I winced. “That’s true. No sparks. But you had sparks withBrooke, and that’s all that matters.”

Leif Montgomery, all six feet and four inches of him,practically melted right there.

That’s what I wanted. That love. The hope and happiness thatcame at just the sound of a person’s name.

I’d never had that, but I would. I had to hope.

If I didn’t have hope, at least I had a promise I’d made out of desperation.

I pushed that sad thought from my mind, spoke to my friendsfor a little bit longer, then headed home. Alone. Something I was good at.

I toed off my shoes as soon as I walked in, set my house torights for the evening, lit a candle for my father, bowed my head, wished forpeace, and then settled in to read in bed. Alone.

My phone rang, and I answered without looking, knowing whoit would be.

“How did it go?” my mother asked. I knew she was onspeakerphone and had my aunt and grandmother next to her.

This was what we were good at. What felt like experience andtradition at this point. I would go on a bad date, head home alone, and myfamily would somehow know exactly when to call. I knew they didn’t have camerason me, so it wasn’t like they were spying, but they still always knew.

“I’m home alone, about to read a book in bed. How do youthink it went?”

“I think you don’t put out on the first date, so thatdoesn’t mean anything,” Grandmother added, and I burst out laughing.

“Grandma!”

“Mom!” Both my mother and aunt shouted at once.

“What? May doesn’t put out on the first date. Weknow this. The second date would be fine, but it’s not like she does those.Mainly because you are pickier than I am. And let me tell you, girly. I waspicky.”

Grandma went into the lovely story of how she had metGrandpa, and I sighed and listened. Even though I had heard the tale a thousandtimes, I still loved it. Because it ended in a happily ever after. Something Iwas afraid I would never get.