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“Oh,” Harlan said. His scowl melted away. “He was talking about me and Sawyer.”
“Yes,” Casey said, snapping his fingers. “He said he thinks you’re going to end up in love with Sawyer. I think he said you two used to work on a farm together, right?”
“Charlie lives in a fantasy land, where everyone falls in love,” Harlan said. “But yes, Sawyer’s my best friend. And he’s supposed to get here soon with a fresh batch of lavender buds for one of our experimental hazy brews. So can I please get you two something to drink, sooner rather than later?”
“Yes. Right. Sorry,” I offered. “I think I’ll be happy with a pint of your winter IPA.”
“And I’ll take a margarita,” Casey said.
Harlan had our drinks out a minute later, and I relished the first cold, foamy sip of my IPA. Apparently Jade Brewery wasn’t just good for ambience—it was fuckinggreatfor beer, too.
I looked over at Casey, finally feeling like I was regaining some sense of sanity.
“You want to know how I knew I liked you?” I said softly, watching him take a swig of his margarita.
He swallowed. “So you like me? I thought maybe I’d turned you off when I told you my age.”
“You certainly haven’t turned meoffin any way, at any point,” I said. “I don’t think that would be possible.”
There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but I knew I probably shouldn’t.
I wanted to tell him that flirting with him tonight so far had already been one of the most fun things I’d done in months.
That I wanted to lean over right about now and pull him into a kiss.
That really, if I had my way, I’d already have him pushed up against a wall in the bathroom, moaning my name.
“Because you saw me,” I said simply.
He cocked his head to one side, his eyes glinting. “What do you mean?”
I pulled in a long breath, leaning back in my chair. “Sometimes I can feel invisible, these days,” I said. “People see all of the decorations we put up, and they stop to take photos under them. If they see us installing the stuff, they usually ignore us. We’re just workers, to most people. I certainly don’t usually get young, hot guys staring at my ass.”
He smiled, but there was a sadness behind his eyes, too. “I can’t believe that’s true, though,” he said. “Who wouldn’t noticeyou?”
Fuck. He got me in my dickandmy heart? I was screwed.
“See?” I said, clicking tongue. “That’s how I knew I liked you.”
* * *
Casey and I sipped our drinks slowly. I could tell that neither of us wanted this night to end, and with every passing minute I felt like I was drawn further into some sort of spell.
“What kind of work are you getting done on your house?” I asked him.
“Small stuff,” he said. “Just a couple of things in the kitchen, mostly. Here, let me show you.”
He pulled out his phone, swiping over to some photos of his kitchen backsplash. It was old and yellowed, with crumbling tiles and ancient grout. He showed me the tiles he’d picked out for the new backsplash, which were a creamy speckled white, sleek and classic.
“You’ve got a good eye for this stuff.”
“I can only afford the backsplash right now, but it’s going to change the vibe of the whole space.”
He cradled his phone as he swiped through some mock-up images of what the finished backsplash would look like. As he was flipping through them, a banner for a new text message flashed at the top of the screen.
>>Mom: I mean, look how good he looks! Absolutely fucking perfect for you, huh?
The message was followed quickly by a tiny preview of an image of a young man, dressed in mint green doctor’s scrubs.
