AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ZEKE: And you know this how?
ME: I know things.
ZEKE: I bet you do… ;)
Despite myself, I feel a smile curl the corners of my mouth. If it was anyone else, I would think he was flirting. But it’s Zeke, and for better or worse, it’s been well-established that we’ll never be anything more than friends.
“Talking to a beau?” the older gentleman asks. “I can tell by the way you’re smiling that it must be someone special.” I quickly close the text window as my cheeks flush with heat.
“Just friends,” I say, shaking my head as my phone buzzes again.
ALY: Maybe you should just embrace the fear? If you faint, perhaps a handsome doctor will catch you?
CARO: Or even better, someone who just had a penis reduction consult.
CARO: You know, he’s thinking about it, but he’s decided to keep bestowing his gift on the world.
CARO: Starting with the sweet, porcelain-skinned blond who faints into his hulking arms on the tram.
ME: Right now the only person I might faint onto is likely to drop me.
ALY: Faye, we talked about this. You’re curvy and beautiful.
CARO: And dat ASS
ME: I’m being serious. He would drop me because he’s at least 83.
CARO: 80 is the new 65
“What a fun time in life,” he says, shifting so that his cane that I hadn’t noticed is angled at the exit. Thank god.
“It has its benefits.” I force a tight smile and stare down the doors, waiting for them to open so I can get the hell out of there.
“You enjoy your night, miss,” he says. Then coughs, and leans forward at the waist, shooting me a wink, and darts his cane out and to clear the way for me as the doctors and med students around him hover and check his vitals. I shoot him a grateful smile as I haul my massive backpack full of textbooks and everything else I don’t want to spend my weekend thinking about.
My Land Cruiser is parked in a small gravel lot between a dive bar and a black, windowless building on Portland’s South Waterfront. It’s just about the last section of the district that hasn’t been gentrified, and the lot looks foreboding enough that it’s not policed.
The bar, Rae Rae’s, is my go-to study spot and it’s not just because Zeke’s brother owns it. It’s mostly quiet on afternoons and weeknights, and the bartender—usually Zach—doesn’t bother me when I only order coffee.
I toss my bag in my car and then go toward the bar. I have a quick matter of business before I go home. The door opens and Zach is leaning against the counter, back to his regulars, watching the Ptarmigans’ pre-game show.
“Working hard, I see,” I call out as I pull the door shut behind me. Zach looks over his shoulder with the same scrutinizing blue eyes as his younger brother but doesn’t budge.
“When a real customer comes in, I’ll serve them.”
“I’m hurt,” I say, approaching and nodding at the two regulars lined up with their tall boys of PBR and tiny bowls of off-brand snack mix.
“You’re not going to the game?” he asks, turning around as the coverage breaks for a commercial. I dig into my pocket and pull out two small packages, setting them on the counter. He lifts his eyebrows, scratching at his golden-brown beard.
“Do I even want to know?”
“We’ve been over this,” I say, reaching behind the counter and grabbing a few pretzels out of the bowl of brand name snack mix Zach keeps hidden for himself. “Don’t ask questions if you don’t want the answers.”
“That’s what Rachel says.” He lets out an exasperated breath but takes the packages.
“Blue for Ivan, Gold for Rae Rae.”
He snorts. “As if I would ever presume you’d give my daughter anything not cast in gold.” He walks them into his back office where he’ll keep them safe until he brings them home. And once they’re home, it’ll be too late.
