Page 21 of Like Home
I plop down in the booth across from her, wishing I had packed a pair of flats to slip on after work. “My feet are killing me,” I complain, reaching down to rub the back of my ankle.
“At least your legs look phenom in those shoes,” she says, passing me a menu.
“Thanks,” I reply with a smile. “How was work?” I ask. Steph is finishing up her second year as the speech and debate teacher at Lakeland High.
“It’s alright. Kids are starting to get antsy as the year comes to a close. They’re out in early June, so by the time April rolls around they’re just done, especially after spring break. My debateclub has one more competition in a few weeks, so I’m trying to get them prepped for that. What about you?”
I shrug and reply, “Same old, same old. Nothing exciting ever really happens at the bank. I think Sherry is going to retire soon though.”
Steph snorts and says, “She’s been saying she was going to retire since before you even worked there.” She waves her hand to indicate a change of subject is in order and leans in, “So, let me live vicariously through you. You’ve been talking to Ryan a lot.” She waggles her dark eyebrows at me suggestively. I’ve been keeping her updated on all things Ryan at her insistence. After the night with Coconut, she required a full, hour-long debrief on the entire encounter.
I wait as our waitress drops off our drinks, a gin and tonic for me and a dirty martini for Steph. I take a sip and hum in appreciation before I say, “Yep. We’ve been talking pretty much every day.”
“About what? There’s no way a man that pretty is also interesting. It’s just not fair,” she gripes.
“We talk about everything. We’ve talked about our exes, our families, and whatever else comes up.” I shrug, not meeting her eye.
“Oh you are indeep,” she says gleefully, clapping her hands.
I sigh and give in, “I’m really starting to care for him. He’s genuinely a good guy, and he makes me feel seen. Even if nothing happens romantically, I still want him to be my friend. It makes me feel crazy because we’ve only really known each other for, like, three weeks. Also, Jared and I just broke up. I don’t want to bethatgirl.”
Steph raises her eyebrow at me. “Whatgirl?”
I stir my drink absently with the cocktail straw, making the ice clink against the side of the glass. “You know,thatgirl. The one who can’t be single, so she jumps from relationship to relationship without a breath in between.” Before I can continue, our waitress stops by to take our orders.
As soon as our waitress is out of earshot, Steph says, “You are so not that girl, Summer. Even if you hopped into bed tomorrow with Ryan—which I highly encourage by the way—you wouldn’t be that girl. ” I roll my eyes which she tactfully ignores, “You and Jared haven’t been in a true relationship for probably the last two years. Not to mention, the last six months have been completely cold. You’ve been co-parents more than anything. And honestly, Summer? You deserve better than that. So who cares if that comes a month or a year after you officially broke up with Jared?”
I take a breath. “I know you’re right. I do deserve better.” Damn her persuasive debate skills. “But I amworried that I’m getting feelings for Ryan so quickly because he’s the first man to show any sort of romantic interest in me in a long time.”
“That you’ve noticed,” Steph snorts. When I glare at her she sighs and says, “That’s a fair concern. You don’t have to marry the man right now. Just don’t get in your own way. Let things play out naturally and see what happens. I mean, youdidfriend zone him, so that’s bound to slow things down.” She laughs at the despair written on my face at the reminder.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I chant, thumping my head on the back of the booth in time with the words. Just then, our waitress returns with our food and gives me a concerned look. Steph pinches her lips together, thanking her before she bursts out laughing.
“Oh, man. You better watch out. Our waitress might be calling to get you some help,” she says through her giggles.
“Eat your food,” I order primly, cutting into my salmon.
“Yes, mom.”
As we’re finishing off our meals, I say, “So we’ve been talking about me a lot. What’s going on with you?”
She shrugs, “Nothing much, honestly. Other than work, I’ve been on a few first dates here and there, but nothing to write home about. Half of them just wanted to hook up and the other half were a mix of catfishes and red flags.”
“Well did you hook up with any of them? My turn to live vicariously through you. I haven’t had sex in like, a year,” I lean in, sipping the last dregs of my drink.
“You’re practically a virgin,” she teases. She waits for a beat, and then goes on, “Yeah, actually. I matched with him last week on Friday and we met up on Saturday.” She takes a sip of her drink.
“Go on,” I say, waving my hand. Steph gives me a scathing look before gulping her martini. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to demand details about my love life and then give me nothing in return. Especially because my romance senses are tingling and I can tell it’s juicy.” I bounce my shoulders at her.
“Ugh fine! So, on Saturday we met up for drinks over in Springview. He was in town for his Grandpa’s funeral-”
I interject incredulously, “He was mourning his Grandpa and wanted a hookup?” I scrunch my nose.
“We all grieve in different ways, Summer.” She glares at me playfully. “Anyway. He wanted a warm body to keep him company and told me so upfront. I was fine with that because it’s been a while and he was hot. So, after drinks, we went to his hotel and had a very fun night.”
“Was it good, or was it awkward?”
“Oh yeah, it wasgood. You know in your romance novels where the woman gets off like four times because the guy is so attentive? It was like that,” she says wistfully, fiddling with the leftover olive toothpick in her drink.
