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“You know what.” Sawyer liked apologizing about as much as he liked talking.
“Whatever.” Before he could stop her, she’d pushed open the door under the green and red sign and disappeared inside the pizza place.
The sound of feet had Sawyer looking toward town, and he found Bart closing in on him.
“Rudeness and unsocial behavior are only so cute, son. After a while, it makes you look a fool.”
“No way did you hear that conversation I had with Birdie.”
“I may be old, Sawyer, but I can hear when someone’s making a fool of themselves.”
“I really don’t have time for this right now, Bart,” Sawyer said, turning away from those shorts and once again facing the door Birdie had just walked through.
“You need to learn how to interact with people better, Sawyer. This Neanderthal act may fool some, but not me. I know you have a brain in there.”
The man was jogging on the spot, waiting for the others to catch up. His shorts weren’t doing a lot to support him.
It didn’t bother Sawyer what people thought about him… or it hadn’t until right then. It bothered him what Birdie was thinking. “I’ve been interacting since I was old enough to know what it meant. And I’m not a Neanderthal.”
“No, you’re not. You’re an intelligent, generous, and good person. Maybe it’s about time you showed that side of your nature.”
How the hell did Bart know what his nature was like?
“Birdie is one of life’s gentle souls. You need to go easy on her,” Bart said. He then jogged off when Nancy arrived, leaving Sawyer watching him.
Why was he suddenly open season to the locals? The advice just kept coming, and it mainly involved him and Birdie. Most people usually just nodded his way and ignored him.
Looking back to the pizza place, Sawyer watched the door open, and Birdie came back out carrying a brown bag.
She marched right up to him. “Look, we said it was a onetime thing, I get it. A single night when you forgot your assholery, but now, clearly, it’s back. We’re normal again and ignoring each other. But you don’t need to be rude.”
“No. It’s not—”
She walked away before he could get out what he needed to say. Sawyer let her, because when she was that close, all he could think about was kissing those lips and every inch of her body.
Running a hand through his hair, he thought the sad look in her eyes was like taking a knife to the gut.
“I’m an asshole.”
The sound of Grapevine Twist filled the air, and he contemplated grabbing his ankle and limping. Nothing else would get him out of it.
“Fuck.”
“How is it that music reaches this end of town?” J.D. muttered, walking out of the bakery with everyone else who’d been in there. “Birdie! Get back here.”
“I’m carrying pizza!”
“Well, put it down!” her boss replied.
“Isn’t this a nice way to finish our jog?” Bart must have sprinted back because he was breathless. Nancy was with him.
“Where are the others?” Zoe asked them.
“Had to go into town for something. Nancy and I are the fastest, so we’re doing an extra lap,” Bart said.
A van braked, and out got Lucas and Jett Hyland. Local plumbers. They slammed the doors to their van, a resigned look on their faces.
“I wonder when Tripp goes if we’ll still have to do this?” Zoe asked.
