Page 80 of Will Bark for Pizza
“Why an apartment, then?”
Kira bit her bottom lip, as though weighing how much to share with me. A churning in my gut told me this had something to do with the ex Luke commonly referred to as The Asswipe. “It’s kind of a long story,” she finally said.
“I have time?—”
A loud, piercing whistle silenced the crowd. The music stopped.
“They’re coming!” Thoren announced, his voice carrying effectively. “Get ready to make my mom cry.”
“She’s not going to cry,” Aspen yelled.
I glanced at Kira, and we shared a silent laugh. It was fucking with my head how natural this felt between us. As though I’d known her for years instead of days. I guess in some ways, though, I’d known her longer—through her brothers and their animated stories about the fearless little sister who was not afraid to throw snakes, climb trees, or walk barefoot everywhere as a kid. She’d always intrigued me, long before I ever met her.
I was about to tell her as much when the crowd yelled, “Surprise!”
TWENTY-FOUR
KIRA
Stars illuminatedthe night sky as I walked Husker along a hard-packed trail that led to the boat dock. The party was still in full swing, more than three hours after Uncle Karl and Aunt Wendy showed up. Thankfully, the surprise was a pleasant one for Wendy. Maybe they’d start using the cabin again. It was a shame for it to sit empty.
But if they didn’t, maybeIcould buy it.
Or at least rent it, if they weren’t ready to part with it.
Beckett’s question about whether or not I thought about moving home played on repeat in my head all night, whispering in the back of my mind during every conversation I held with anyone.
There really was nothing left for me in Omaha but bad memories and writer’s block. Lila was the only friend there who survived my Dark Ages. I pushed the others away too far, and I couldn’t blame them now for ignoring my messages.
But could I truly be happy here if I had to watchMom’s bookstore be dismantled and turned into God-knows-what?
Not for the first time, I wished I knew a way to save it. I didn’t know shit about running a bookstore, which only frustrated me more. All those years I spent in Denver after college, I could have been home, learning the business. I could have stepped in after Mom passed instead of Margene.
Fucking Margene Miller.
Instead, I found a job in Omaha so I could follow Travis when he transferred from Denver.
I thought being in Colorado would be too hard after Mom left us. That maybe she brought Travis into my life as a way to ease the sting of her loss, and nudge me on a new adventure.
If I only knew the special hell that awaited me one state over, I’d never have left.
But even if I’d stayed close, it was never my dream to run a bookstore. I wanted to write the books that lived on their shelves. Once upon a time, I had aspirations of being a household name, scheduling book tours around the country, and someday seeing my books on the big screen.
I went from dreaming big to allowing outside influence to turn me small. Travis fed on every insecurity, cementing my fears that I wasn’t good enough to make it. That my success was nothing more than a fluke that might unravel at any given time.
Now, I was too chicken to even own up tobeingDiana Davenport, much less travel the country on tour.
“What do you think, Bubbies?” I asked Husker as we stepped out onto the boat dock cloaked in darkness. Itwould be the perfect hiding spot until someone parked nearby turned on their headlights. “Do you want to move home?”
A nagging whisper in the back of my mind tried to convince me I was only interested in moving back because of Beckett. A man I barely knew. A very off-limits man.
I wouldn’t hate being around him more, even if nothing ever came of it.
But he wasn’t the reason.
At least, I was ninety-nine percent certain he wasn’t the reason.
Ninety-five.
