Page 53 of Before We Fell

We sat there, frozen while he walked out the door. My gaze was riveted to him until he was at the street, popping the locks on his blue pick-up and opening the door.

A sharp stinging pain smacked my thigh and I almost dropped my mug.

“Ow!” I whipped around and faced Tinley. “What was that for?”

I grabbed a napkin and wiped up the small spill that had landed on my black shirt.

“That man wants you.” She leaned in and hissed it quietly. “And you’ve been holding out on me. What in the hell is going on?”

I tossed the napkin onto the table. “You got that all from a look?”

“Sweetie. The way he stared at you while he walked up behind you, I thought he was going to incinerate the whole shop it was so hot. You have to tell me everything. Are you sleeping with Riley’s uncle?”

“No and keep your voice down. It’s not like that.”

“Liar. Spill.”

I wanted to spill my coffee all over her lap more than I wanted to have this conversation. Unfortunately Tinley was relentless, and I really needed some perspective. So I tugged my chair close to hers, leaned in and quietly told her everything from the first time I saw him, to the night I went over there to help teach him how to do Riley’s hair, to last night.

We finished our drinks while I did, set them in a tray near the counter so they’d get washed, and we were outside by the time I was done, both of us resting on the side of my car.

“He doesn’t seem like a guy who’ll give up when he wants something,” Tinley said. She had a strange, goofy grin on her face. It showed up when I told her about him stomping into my house after my date with Shawn and got even bigger when I told her about last night. “You’re totally going to hit that, right?”

I snorted. “No, I’m not going to hit that.”

“Right. Of course you wouldn’t. Because why would you be smart enough to go for a guy like that.”

“He’s Riley’s uncle. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen with your job. So you date him. It’s the curse of a small town and it’s not like there’s a lot of guys available.”

“It doesn’t feel right.” Oh, but it did. It felt so absolutely right last night when his body was pressed to mine.

“Because you don’t want him or because you teach Riley?”

I gave her a look.

“Life’s too short, babe.” She pointed her thumb toward the spot where Noah had parked like he was still there. Crazy girl. “A guy like that doesn’t come around Carlton very often and if he does, he’s taken quickly.”

I could waffle back and forth on this decision all day. All week. Heck, I’d already been doing it for a month. I didn’t need Tinley to tell me what I already knew. What I already wanted. Talking it out loud, seeing her point, which was one I’d already considered anyway, loosened the tension in my shoulders. “You’re right.”

Her blue eyes sparkled. “You’re totally going to go after him, aren’t you?”

I nodded and twirled my keys around my thumb. “Oh yeah.”

She threw her head back and laughed, blonde hair sparkled in the hot sunshine. “Go get ‘em, girlfriend. And make sure you give meallthe yummy details.”

I wrapped her in a quick hug and laughed. “You got it.” Squeezing her tighter, I whispered, “And keep me up to date with Gavin and his dad, okay? You need me, I’m here for you.”

“I’ll do that, too. Now go hunt down that sexy specimen of a man and throw yourself at him.”

She stepped back from my car and waited until I was seated, window rolled down so I could wave goodbye.

What a day. What a strange few hours, night, week, month.

Ever since Noah had shown up at my school with all scowls and angry, irritated looks, my life had been off-kilter.

Maybe finally admitting what I really wanted would set it back straight.

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