Page 37 of Sipping Seduction
My spare bedroom was full of her things. I didn’t dare go in there since I’d fucked things up so much the last time I’d entered, but if I stood in the doorway, I could breathe in her scent and pretend we were still friends.
Living in limbo, not know where things stood with us, was driving me out of my mind. So when the front door opened just after eleven on Thursday night, I vowed come hell or high water, we’d figure out what the new normal would be.
“Hey.” I’d been sitting in the corner of the couch in the dark for the past hour, waiting for her to come home.
Frannie shrieked and dropped the dog’s leash. “Evan, you scared me.”
Pete the Dog bounded over and covered my face with sloppy, wet kisses. I pushed him out of tongue’s reach while I stretched over the arm of the couch to flip on the lamp.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” It had only been a few days since we’d seen each other, but I’d missed her.
“It’s okay. What are you doing sitting here in the dark?” She shrugged her jacket off and hung it on a hook before coming into the front room.
I got up from the couch, so happy to see her that I had to fight the urge to walk over and pull her into a huge bear hug. “I’ve been waiting for you. We need to talk, Frannigan.”
“I know.”
I’d expected her to put up a little resistance. She’d never liked having hard conversations. That’s one of the reasons she was always so agreeable—she hated letting people down or feeling their disappointment.
“With Cole’s wedding coming up and you going with Andrew—”
“I’m not going with Andrew.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. “Aren’t you his plus-one?”
“Not anymore. I broke things off.” She slumped onto the couch. “He’s a nice guy, but he’s not the one for me, especially if it means putting our friendship or my relationship with your family at risk. He wasn’t too surprised. Sounds like both of us were trying to make more out of what was there.”
My heart skipped a few beats, then started bouncing around like a catfish that had been pulled out of the river and flung onto a sunny dock. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Are you?” Frannie looked up at me, her eyes narrowed. Then her lips broke into a slight smile. “It was killing you to think I was dating a Stewart, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, a little.” Hope rose in my chest. “Does that mean you might be willing to be my plus-one at the wedding?”
“If the invitation’s still open.”
“Of course it is.”
“Good. Then I accept.” She patted the cushion next to her. “Want to sit down and tell me what’s been going on with you over the past few days?”
I’d take any excuse to be close to her, so I sat down on the couch next to her and filled her in on the few things that had happened since she’d been avoiding me.
“Cole heard back from the lab about the yeast. They weren’t able to fully isolate the strain that was used, but the results narrowed it down to just a few. He’s trying a couple of small batches to see if he can get closer to matching Devil’s Distinct.”
“Who knew it would be so difficult to make whiskey?” she deadpanned. She almost had me until she bit down on her lip and a laugh forced its way out.
“Good one.”
“I try.”
“What have you been up to besides avoiding me?” The pain that had been lodged deep inside my chest faded away with each flash of her eyes and upturn of her lips.
“I haven’t been avoiding you. Not really. School’s been busy. I had to break up a betting ring around dodgeball at recess. You know, the usual.”
“A betting ring? You mean Beaver Bluff Elementary has its own bookie? Who was running point on that?” I was a little impressed, and also slightly disappointed I’d never come up with that idea back when I thought my friends and I ruled the school.
“One of the Stewart kids. I talked to his dads and based on their response, I don’t think we’ll have any other issues.” She pushed off the couch and got to her feet. “How’s your leg?”
“Good as new. I’ve made some real progress lately.” I stood up next to her like being able to stand on two legs would prove it. I hadn’t told anyone about my recent trip into Knoxville to see a pain management specialist. The steroid injection he gave me had acted as a nerve blocker. One of the warehouse managers had even commented that my limp was barely noticeable.
