Page 11 of Be With Me

Chapter 4

Ailee

Ichecked my phone and silenced the incoming call, then slid it back into the pocket of my hoodie. Typical of western Washington summers, the warm temperatures from yesterday had dropped a good fifteen degrees today, and the evening was promising to be even cooler. Fall was definitely on its way.

“Who was that?” Stef grabbed my phone out of my pocket before I realized what she was doing. When she saw the number still lit up on the screen, she stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing the other pedestrians to walk around us. “Tyler?” She frowned. “Is he asking about his money already? We just did the shoot yesterday, for fucks sake. I haven’t even seen the final edits, yet.” With a roll of her eyes and a toss of her head to get her dark hair out of her eyes, she slipped the phone back in my pocket.

I stood frozen to the spot in mortification. She didn’t seem to notice.

“Why is he bugging you? Is he always this demanding?” She started walking again. “If so, I’m not using him anymore. No matter how freaking hot he is.” She stopped in front of a little Thai place and looked at the menu in the window. “This looks good. Wanna eat here?”

I still stood in the same spot, my mind a complete blank as to what to tell her. Should I confess all of my dirty secrets? Let her confirm what I already knew about all of the reasons Tyler and I shouldn’t be together? My phone started vibrating again. I didn’t pull it out. I was afraid to look. Luckily, a pickup with a muffler of ridiculous proportions chose that moment to pass by us on its way down the narrow street and it was too noisy for her to hear it.

Maybe she would move on to food and I wouldn’t have to answer any questions. “Yeah, I’ve heard good things about this place,” I told her in what I hoped was a casual tone. The odds were good I’d eaten there before—it wasn’t like there was a large selection of restaurants in my small town—but for the life of me I couldn’t remember at this point in time. I forced my feet to move, grabbing the door from Stef as she went inside.

We ordered our food and some Thai teas from the counter and found a table by the window.

Two seconds later, I nearly choked on my drink when she said, “So, give me the details.” Stef scooted her chair in and sat, looking at me expectantly.

I cleared my throat. “Details?”

“Yeah, on my edits. Is my cover going to be as awesome as I expect?” She grinned at me with dancing eyes.

The cover. Of course. “Um…yes. Yes,” I said with more confidence. “That last shot was the winner. It’s SO good, Stef. You’re gonna love it.” Of this, I had no doubts. And not because of our friendship. Stefanie never hesitated to call me out on anything she considered half-assed. Friends or not, she demanded the best, and I also knew what she liked and what she didn’t. “I finished it up last night. After dinner we can walk back to my place and I’ll show you.”

She clapped her hands with excitement one moment, then slammed them on the table the next. “I can’t believe you’re making me wait until after dinner.”

I laughed. In my pocket, my phone buzzed and I pulled it out without thinking about it. My smile fell as I saw Tyler’s name on the screen. Maybe I should change his contact info to: “Great Kisser But Kinda Stalkerish”.

“Who the hell keeps calling you? If that’s Tyler again, just answer it already.” Stef thanked the waitress as she put our food on the table and picked up her fork. She looked up at me and must have seen something on my face. “What? What is it?”

I declined the call and set the phone down on the table. Thinking twice, I picked it up again and turned it off completely. I looked back at my friend, now chewing away on her Pad Thai. Stef’s food waited for no one. “Stef, I almost had sex last night. Mind blowing, soul-altering sex.”

Her eyes widened and she swallowed. “With who?”

I took a deep breath. “Tyler.”

She blinked once. Twice. “Tyler Hale? But he—”

“Is way too young for me. I know. God, I know. What the hell was I thinking?” I picked up my own fork and stuck it in the rice.

“I was gonna say ‘has a girlfriend’. Why would you think he’s too young for you?” Around another mouthful of food, she said, “And more importantly, what makes you think it would be soul-altering?”

I set my fork down again, choosing to ignore her second question. “Why? Because I’m fifty! And he’s like…like…I don’t know how old exactly, but he could probably be my kid!” I sat back, crossed my arms, and gave her an imploring look. “He has a girlfriend?” Of course, he did. Guys who looked like Tyler didn’t ever not have a girlfriend. “So, I’m a child molester AND the other woman. Great.” Suddenly, I’d lost my appetite.

“Well, there is a girl he’s always hanging out with. I always assumed it was his girlfriend.”

“Have you seen them together?” Stef, like me, was over the age of forty and single. Unlike me, she’d never been married. And also unlike me, she still enjoyed going out to clubs. As she liked to remind me, “I’m forty-six. I’m not dead.”

She dug into her food again and gave a small shrug. “Maybe once or twice.”

“Recently?” I don’t know why I wouldn’t let this go.

She nodded as she chewed.

“And they were definitely together?” I pressed. “Like, together together?”

“Seems like it. I just saw them over the weekend. They were a ways ahead of me, but they were walking with their arms around each other and talking. I only spotted them because she has this really light blond hair.”

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