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I smile and nod, not sure what else to say and now wishing I had the glass again. At least then, I’d have something to do with my hands. A foreboding sense hangs between us, and I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a reason why she came over here to talk to me.
“So you don’t seem so difficult.” She cocks her head to one side and studies me like a painting in a museum.
“Excuse me?” My muscles tense at that word, the one I’m all too familiar with.
“Sorry. I thought Tom had told you. I mean, I know he doesn’t feel that way now.” She flushes and my stomach churns.
“Tell me what?”
“Me and my big mouth.” She slaps a hand over her mouth and her cheeks redden. “Forget I said anything. Tom can’t stop talking about you. You really made a good impression on him.” Nervously, she stops a waiter to nab a glass, poised to hand me one. “Champagne?”
I shake my head no and play over our brief encounter. I can’t tell if she’s being coy, trying to cause trouble, or if this is who she is. Impulsive and regretful when she’s made a mess of things.
“Come on, have a drink with me.” She holds out the flute, filled with a golden bubbly liquid. “Tom will kill me, and rightly so, if I’ve offended you. I swear, I didn’t mean to.”
“No, thanks. I’ve already had too much.” My plastic smile hurts my cheeks, and I angle my chin outward. “What did you mean by difficult?”
“Seriously. Forget about that.” Eden puts down the glass and leans in close. Her hand gently clasps my arm. “I’m an overprotective friend. After what happened to August with Brent…” Her lips twist until they resemble barbed wire, and it’s as if she just sucked on a lemon. “Anyway, I only know that Tom likes you.”
This time my insides constrict in a good way at the mention of Tom, of how he might feel about me.
She pauses again, this time staring at me as if expecting or urging me with her silence to say something. Sadly, she’ll be disappointed.
I’m the wrong person to play this game with. A master at waiting people out. It helps that I’ve been surrounded by self-centered assholes who like the sound of their own voices. I could go an entire night without uttering a single word and no one would notice or care.
“Leighton, I really am sorry, and I hope I haven’t given you a reason to hate me.”
“I don’t. How can I? I hardly know you.” I cock a hip and place my hand on my waist. “But it feels like you came over here to scare me away or provoke me.”
She nods sheepishly. “Kind of a bit of both. Like I said, do you know what happened with Brent?”
“A little.”
“Well, August and Tom let him in. Trusted him and he betrayed them and stole from August. I guess—”
“You think I’ll do the same? Hurt Tom. Betray him.” I narrow my gaze and don my most superior expression.
It might work against me and only prove her right, but I won’t let her get the better of me. And in return, all Eden does is nod, easily admitting that she may have been quick to judge me. She’s now sheepish, and though I don’t know her, I sense she feels like an ass.
I’m kind of in awe of her honesty and can’t help but admire her a bit. “You’re a good friend. But how can you think those things when you don’t even know me?”
“You’re right and I’m sorry.” She covers her face with her hands, staring at me through a sliver between two fingers. Then she drops them and smiles. “It’s just that in all the time I’ve known Tom, he’s never talked about any women. I don’t even know if he’s dated.” She huffs and shakes her head. “But this job…while on the drive and at least a dozen times today, the first day back in town, he couldn’t stop talking about you. I suppose… I just… Tom’s a great guy. He deserves the best.”
Boisterous laughter, not too far from us, draws our attention. Tom, Matt, Drew, and August are gathered in a small circle, laughing so hard that two of them are bent over, shaking and holding their stomachs.
With her eyes on them, Eden adds, “They’re all great guys—”
“And you don’t want to see him get hurt. I get it.”
Eden tears her gaze from the men back to me. “Yes, that’s it. And I’m an idiot to assume you’d do that. I swear, I’d like to get to know you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Tom’s lucky to have a friend like you. So is August.”
We share a quiet moment before Tom sidles up next to me and slides an arm around my waist. “What are you two talking about?”
At the same time, Eden and I say, “You.”
He ducks his head forward and laughs, blond hair falling over his forehead. “Of course you are.” His lips press against my cheek. “You ready to go?”
