Page 10 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

Bane nods, twisting his lips, so I make a “get on with it” gesture.

“Okay, well just because you want him in the friend zone doesn’t mean your feelings have changed. I think it’s totally cool that you’re so respectful of where he’s at and everything, all I’m saying is it could be why finding someone else is harder than it should be.”

His words sting with truth. “What do I do about it?”

Bane chuckles. “How would I fucking know? I’m the poster child of unrequ—” He stops abruptly when Jerryn walks by, smiling and waving on his way to the kitchen. “Yeah.”

I grab his hand, squeezing it. “I wondered if there was more there, or if you…” I shrug, pausing when I see his face fall.

“He’s my best friend,” Bane explains, his eyes clouding over. “He doesn’t feel that way about me. If he did, I’d know by now. It’s been almost twenty years. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Have you ever told him?”

Bane subtly shakes his head. “And I never will. I have everything I want. I have a life with him. It’s not everything, but it’s enough.”

I hear the sadness and resignation in his voice, but I won’t push it. He’s a grown man and can make his own choices.

“That’s my advice, man,” Bane continues. “Decide if friendship is enough or if the potential romance is worth telling him what’s up.”

“I’ve already decided.” I nod, glancing back at the guy on my phone. “I gotta try harder is all. I’ll find someone.”

“You will.”

“Good talk.”

Bane laughs. “Yeah, yeah.”

He walks off and I linger for a few seconds, swiping through the rest of my notifications. If I’ve truly decided that Wren and I are gonna be nothing more than friends, then I should go all in on finding other options. I should go to New Onyx more and take chances on the dating apps.

I should, but fuck, I don’t want to at all. Maybe late-night snacks and zombie movies are enough for now.

Maybe they have to be.

FOUR

WREN

The midday lullhas set in, so I exit the kitchen to get some fresh air out front where the smell of the dumpsters in the alley can’t reach me. I’m restless, and I don’t know why. It could be the ongoing lack of sleep, but I’m used to that, so it’s gotta be something else.

Indy, Kit, Bane, and Ridley are sitting at the bar, wolfing down the burgers Carlos just finished making while our new bartender, Jax, washes glasses. She’ll be taking lunch a few days a week and joining Florian on weekends. I love the energy she brings to the bar. She’s pretty in an edgy way, with bleached blond hair that’s shaved on one side and hangs down her back on the other, lots of facial piercings, and a welcoming energy.

She waves at me. “Hey, Wren.”

“Hey, Jax. How was the lunch crowd today?”

“Thirsty. They gotta wash down all our delicious food.”

I smile. “It was hopping today.”

The guys seem to have fallen dead silent, like I walked in on a conversation they didn’t want me to hear.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep,” Indy says, his eyes shifting briefly to Ridley. “We were just shooting the shit.”

“Yeah, the shit,” Bane says.

Kit lowers his head and focuses on his fries while Ridley stares straight ahead like he’s reading all the liquor bottles.

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