Page 43 of Best Friends, Tennessee

“It’s only going to get crazier once you play speed chess with me,” Thomas said. “I’m a god at chess.”

I leaned over toward him, still hot all over from taking the shot.

“You think I’m right, by the way? You think Mason wants to fuck Finn?”

Thomas cocked his head to one side, his eyes glimmering. “I don’t know. Doyouwant to fuck Finn?”

I laughed a little too forcefully.

Thomas had put me on the spot in a way I hadn’t been expecting.

“Finn couldn’t take me. Even if hewasn’tstraight.”

“King me,” I shouted, smacking my piece onto the opposite side of the checkers board.

“What the fuck?” Thomas said, his eyes wide as he threw his hands up in the air. “You lowballed me earlier, Ori. Now you’re sweeping the floor with me.”

“I said I was bad atchess,not checkers,” I told him. “King me.”

We were a few drinks deep into the night now, and I had to admit that game night was exactly as much fun as Danielle said it would be.

The people of Bestens had come out in droves, getting progressively drunker and merrier as the evening went on.

I’d been having a great time with Thomas, too.

“That’s another drink I owe you,” Thomas said a couple of minutes later as we stood up. “Another margarita?”

“Fuck yeah,” I said.

“Let’s take it out to the patio?” Thomas asked.

All night, we’d stayed in the bar, not venturing outside yet. I hadn’t been avoiding Finn, but I had been acutely aware that he’d been out there with Mason all evening.

“You want to head outside?”

“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Foosball sounded fun. Or maybe table tennis.”

I nodded. “Sure. Patio it is.”

Thomas gave me a little salute. “Meet you out there.”

I made my way through the crowd, glancing over at a very heated Jenga game between two women in one of the alcoves. For the first time in weeks I’d actually been able to relax and distract myself a little bit tonight, and it had been desperately needed. Earlier, I’d applied online to a volunteer position at a small art museum a couple towns over, and I’d spent the afternoon dwelling on it, hoping like hell I’d get the spot.

Lately, every waking moment had felt like that.

Worry about my future. Worry about how long I’d have to be in Finn’s guest room, how long I’d have to be working in the diner, how long I’d be in Tennessee.

Worry about the weird sexual tension between me and Finn, now too.

Not that I ever thought that would be possible.

It was nice to give that up for tonight. Toenjoymyself, right where I was.

I pushed open the door onto the patio, stepping out under the glowing lights. The Hard Spot had a pretty large patio, withbenches and tables throughout and green vines hanging down over the slatted wood awning. It was just as crowded as the inside of the bar, with people playing foosball, table tennis, and darts.

As I looked through the crowd I caught a pair of eyes that made me pause.

Something turned in my stomach. It was Aaron Vander, a guy I hadn’t seen since school.

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