Page 4 of Make Me Swoon

“Are you joining us for breakfast, Lyla?” Flynn asks and I shake my head.

“No, I’m just here to grab something to eat for Stan and me.”

We head inside and I put my order in with Suzie at the counter before I head over and join them at their booth to wait.

“Are you ready for girl’s night tonight?” Madelyn asks as I slide in next to her and I grin.

“I forgot that was tonight.”

“What are you ladies going to be doing?” Flynn asks.

“Probably just head up to The Fainting Goat,” I tell him with a shrug, looking over to Madelyn.

“Yeah, or we could head over to Lilac Harbor. I heard that there’s some new bar opening up over there,” Madelyn suggests, naming the next town over.

“Lyla!” Suzie calls with my food all bagged up. I stand up, telling Madelyn that I’ll see her tonight before I wave goodbye to both of them and start the walk back to the Mystery Cabin.

Bandit sniffs the food as we walk and I laugh as he tries to bury his nose in the bag. I know that I’ve only been in Destiny Falls for a few months, but I’m at peace here. The first real peace since my father passed away.

I’ve got a job and great friends here but is it enough? Shouldn’t I want more than a dead-end job working in the gift shop of some tourist trap?

I frown as I head back across the gravel parking lot and to the gift shop door, and I realize something as Bandit and I head inside.

It’s going to be hard to say goodbye when it’s time to leave this town.

TWO

I wince as some of the hoots and hollers of the drunk guys around the mechanical bull in the corner of the bar hit eardrum busting decibels. They’ve been doing that off and on for the last twenty minutes and it’s causing the headache that I had when I first got here to kick up a notch and now all I can concentrate on is the pounding I can feel in my head.

We’re at the bar in town. It’s a western theme place with a mechanical bull in the corner and a stage on the other side of the bar. They’re not doing live music tonight, but the place is still pretty crowded.

I rub at my temples, wondering if maybe the alcohol isn’t helping with the headache as I try to tune back in to my friends as we sit around a table in the center of the bar.

“I’m just saying, he’s totally into you,” Madelyn tells Iris as we all try to pretend that we’re not watching Arlo, the bartender here at The Fainting Goat, checking out Iris every chance that he gets.

Iris sighs. I think that she’s used to us encouraging her to go for him but she seems happy to run her antiques store downtown and hang out with all of us instead of dating and all of that.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask Arlo out, when you ask Flynn out,” Iris says with a smirk, and Madelyn pouts at her.

“For the millionth time, Flynn and I are just friends,” Madelyn argues, but no one with eyes believes that.

“Yeah, um, we’ve seen you two together so…” Sutton says, trailing off as she grabs her martini and takes a drink.

“Alright, alright,” Iris says, waving her hand to stop Madelyn before she can start to argue. “How’s this then? I’ll go out with Arlo when Lyla finally takes Hudson up on one of his dinner date offers.”

All eyes turn to me expectantly and I regret sharing that he leaves me notes every day asking me out. I’m saved from having to answer by Flynn heading over to our table.

“Ladies,” he says with a smile as he grabs a chair from a nearby table and joins us.

“You know that this is girl’s night, right?” Madelyn asks as he takes her drink, finishing off the last of her appletini.

“You aren’t happy to see me?” he asks and I lean back in my chair, getting comfortable for this argument.

“What are you doing here?” Iris asks.

“I’m meeting some friends. I thought that you guys were headed over to Lilac Harbor tonight?”

“We were going to, but Iris is headed to some flea market tomorrow morning and has to be up early,” I tell him and he nods.

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