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“And was probably plagiarized from a greeting card or something,” Ben scoffed, drawing a peal of laughter from Cason. “So Hailey, what do you do now that you're back home?”
She turned her attention to Ben before looking away quickly, that strained, awkward look back upon her face. She stared off into the trees for a bit, not speaking to any of us. I almost wanted to say something to break up the silence, but before I could, she looked back at me, a small smile on her face.
“Currently? Nothing,” she said. “I'm still looking for work.”
“Well, what did you do? Back in California?” Ben said, stepping on my toes. “Maybe I can help you find something local just to get you back into the swing of things.”
“I did a lot of different things,” she said. “Waited tables for a while, worked as an executive assistant, did a few commercials –”
Cason jumped in at that point. “Wow,” he said in that fake interested tone of voice of his. “You were an actress?”
“I wanted to be for a while, yeah,” she said. “But it never really panned out.”
We were approaching the group of people milling around the bonfire, and I was frustrated by the fact that my brothers kept getting in my way of talking to her. Hailey looked nervously at the crowd, the expression on her face saying she wasn't sure she should be there. She bit her lower lip as she pulled her hoodie tighter around her petite, but curvy body.
“Tough industry,” Cason said. “But you're still young, you never know what might happen.”
“No, I'm pretty sure I won't be acting anymore,” she said, her tone a little harsh as she spoke about it.
“Why's that?” I asked, speaking softly as I gazed over at her.
With her hair falling around her face, she really was beautiful – even though she tried to hide herself away in that damn hoodie. She did that back in high school too.
“I'd rather not talk about,” she said.
She stood there, staring at the people, looking like she felt as if she didn't belong. I could tell she really didn't want to be there.
Leaning close, I whispered to her and her alone, “Do you want to leave?”
She nodded, her arms
crossed in front of her as if she was protecting herself from something. What she felt she needed protection from, I had no idea, but it was a crack in the armor and a way I could spend some time with her. Alone. Reaching out, I took her arm and motioned for her to follow me.
“Come on,” I said. “I'll take you home. Or wherever you want to go.”
“Hey, where you going?” Cason asked, turning, an annoyed expression on his face as we started to walk away.
I shot him a look over my shoulder, a taunting look as if to say, “I won” even though I wasn't sure I had just yet. But at least, if I had some time alone with her, I had a better shot at winning than either of those two bozos. Hailey wanted to get out of there, and who was I to force her to interact with others if she didn't want to?
And the look on Cason and Ben's faces as we walked away together was priceless. I reveled in it for a moment as we made our way toward the parking lot and away from the crowd.
I had to make them think I'd done it again. That I beat them. That I got the girl. I knew it would be a thorn in their side and nothing made me happier.
***
“How does this place even stay open?” she laughed, taking a sip from her milkshake. “I don't remember it ever being full.”
Betty's Diner was empty except for the two of us. But that's because everyone – and I mean everyone – was at the bonfire.
“It's a staple around here,” I said. “Just like Driftwood. Some things are just institutions and will never disappear completely.”
“The Driftwood – which you guys now own,” she said, looking a little more relaxed and her eyes twinkling for the first time since we'd met.
Her smile was warm, genuine and she seemed more confident now that we were away from the crowd. She was no longer hugging the hoodie close to her body and spoke a little more confidently.
“Yeah, that was Cason's idea,” I said, running a hand through my hair.
The front door of the diner opened, the bell overhead tinkling, and I cringed. I just had a feeling I knew who was coming through the front doors. It took everything in me in that moment to not jump up and stab them both in the heart with a spoon.
