Page 64 of Fly Back to Me
“Okay,” she starts. “You would just sit back and let me get fucked over by a guy?”
“You’re smarter than me, I don’t have to worry.”
“If I wasn’t?” she pushes.
I mumble timidly over the rim of the copper mug. “Sure.”
I jolt when the back of her hand slaps my arm. “You’re such a liar! You would never.”
Our wide eyes shine at each other, mouths opened in disbelief. “Can you just forone secondlet me be stupid?”
Her lips seal as she flips a palm upward, and she’s turning in her seat to babysit her drink. “Fine, do it. Be that girl.”
“Good. I will be her,” I volley back, retrieving my phone from my belt bag on the bar top. My concentration slides between my text thread and Lauren, our eyes greeting each other in some sort of showdown under the shadowy lighting.
Until my thumbs go to work.
Me: I started writing.
Once I hit send, I roll my phone over on the counter and hug my drink in my hands.
“I’ll have you know that I will laugh in your face before feeling sorry for you,” Lauren claims.
“Permission granted,” I simply say.
Chapter 24
Olivia
Two hours.
Two hours since I texted him, and nada.
I blow out a breath as I drop my bag on the table, running my fingers through my hair as I tread toward the fridge. Lauren’s Long Island Iced Teas sent her straight to bed, but between my dehydration and racing mind, I’m only interested in wandering around the kitchen with a boring glass of water.
My head snaps around when a dull rumbling vibrates behind me. I slightly tilt my chin up as my heart skips its next beat, slowly walking toward the table.
I rest my drink on the faux wood, unzipping my bag to pluck my phone out.
Cade: You didn’t come in tonight.
My stomach leaps, teeth nipping my bottom lip as Icontemplate my next move.
Me: You seem to forget I’m not a beer person.
Cade: I guess I need to brew more cinnamon flavors.
Me: That’s a start. You could call one “The Liv.”
Cade: Noted.
Me: You got a late night tonight?
Cade: Here until closing.
The parking lot of the brewery is practically abandoned at midnight. Dark and desolate as one would expect.
My fingers fasten around the steering wheel, eyes catching two bodies sauntering behind the large windows of the brick building. Jake’s crewcut peeks into view when he exits the bar, and Cade taps him on the shoulder as he strolls past him.
