Get a room, am I right?I mouth.
She rolls her lips together, tempering her responding smile. Her eyes brighten with the laughter she’s holding back – but I know the melodic sound so well, it still rings in my mind. And it really makes me want to make things up to her.
‘What do you, um, say to skipping all the cleaning tonight, just doing the basics to close up, and getting off early?’ I ask Cherry over my shoulder as I finish locking up the front door of the bar now we’re finally closed for the night. The plan to fashion the perfect small moment for Cherry while showing her I’m serious about this bucket list finally finishes formulating in my head. One that can maybe also keep her distracted from the second half of that list. If she’s busy ticking all these big and small moments off with a friend, maybe she won’t be too worried about the second half. You know, for Wyatt’s sake – what kind of friend would I be otherwise? Protecting Cherry from any idiots is the least I can do for the family that protected me growing up.
Cherry furrows her brow as she collects up the last empty glasses from one of the booths. ‘Close early? I mean,obviouslyI’m down to go home early.’ She pauses for a second to lift the piled-up tray, then carefully begins heading for the bar. Her next question comes out more lightly. ‘Why, have you got plans?’
‘Uh …’ I lean back against the door, taking advantage of the few seconds when her back is turned to me to take another deep breath. ‘No, well, yes.’Eloquently put, Duke.‘I was hoping with you.’
The tray lands on the bar with a bang before some of the glasses topple over and Cherry scrambles to pick them back up, cursing under her breath. For a waitress at a bar, she sure is clumsy. Just like that time she knocked over a whole tray of drinks because one of Sawyer’s bull-riding friends winked at her. Once she’s got the glasses stabilised, she quickly pushes out an apologetic smile.
‘Oh, um, really? How come?’ she asks, running her teeth along her bottom lip, the cherry-red stain faded now after hours of talking and working. And biting her lip, she’s always biting her goddamn lip.
I rub the back of my neck, staying put by the door. ‘I just thought since we ticked one thing off your bucket list, then it was my turn to show you a small, slow moment.’
‘Oh.’ Cherry’s shoulders immediately drop and a soft curve graces her lips. ‘I suppose it’s only fair.’
‘Exactly.’ I nod. Releasing the breath I’d been holding, I finally let myself walk over towards the bar, relief sweeping through me at the speed of her agreement. At the prospect of getting to spend a little more time with her tonight. Usually after closing time, it’s back to my dark apartment, where I’m left with my thoughts.
She hovers by the bar. ‘Can we still do our closing time argument on the drive over? I had a really good one for tonight.’
‘Anything you want, Baby Hensley.’ I take a chance and push myself closer to her, leaning an elbow on the bar top, as opposed to heading to the opposite end like usual. Her brown eyes watch the movement, trailing gradually back up my arm. My heart races suddenly being under her scrutiny, and I start to question whether I’m about to throw myself into a bucket load of trouble.
9
Cherry
‘Put that pizza lid down or you’re going to let all the heat out,’ Duke grumbles at me from the driver’s side of his truck.
I’ve been so distracted by the two boxes of hot pizza on my lap, keeping my legs all toasty, and the sizzling cheesy smell wafting through the air each time I take a peek at the top one, that I hadn’t been paying attention to where we’re driving.
We managed to catch Piper’s Pizza Truck just as it was closing for the night – a food truck that sporadically pops up in Willow Ridge during the summer evenings when one of the chefs from Ruby’s Diner isn’t working – on the way to wherever we were going after I posed the closing time argument ofpepperoni vs ham and pineapple. So, now we’ve got one of each, after deciding the only way to truly settle the debate would be to do a taste test.
And because I’m a fiend for pizza.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ I yelp, shutting the lid quickly, andfinally taking in our surroundings. We’re in the middle of nowhere, that’s for sure, racing along some dirt road track, with the twinkling lights of Willow Ridge behind us.
After the roller-skating incident the other day, I’d fully convinced myself that was the end of my bucket list with Duke. If anything, the speed-dating idea was a blessing really, a good distraction to help me focus on talking to the opposite sex, and, as Montana pointed out, ticking off some items on the second half of that bucket list. But then Duke brought up about still owing me a small moment and suddenly the deal is back on.
It’s a few more minutes before we hit a slight incline, and the road climbs higher ahead of us, a nervous buzz filling my stomach.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not taking you too high up,’ Duke assures me, pulling over to the side of the road and cutting the engine. It’s so empty, the pastures below completely drenched in nothing but silence and moonlight as I scour our surroundings. ‘I just wanted to get us a bit further away from the lights of the town.’
I furrow my brow at him while he unbuckles himself and climbs out of the truck. He rounds the front, when I’m distracted by his phone lighting up in the centre console. I chance a quick glance at the screen, only for my stomach to plummet when I notice several texts from a woman called Kelly. He’s even got the setting turned on so he can see the latest text in the notification, the top one reading:Last night’s call was great. Excited about where this is heading.
I can’t think of a single woman called Kelly that would be age appropriate for Duke to be seeing in Willow Ridge. Everyone knows everyone in our small town, soI’m aware of a few women Duke’s been with, even if he does try to keep most of his escapades infrequent and quiet. Not that I should care. Now, or ever.
Although there was that girl he was talking to at the bar the other night who was visiting a friend from out of town. Anyone could see how beautiful she was with her deep brown skin and a waterfall of black curls down her back, I’m sure Duke was just as enraptured.
Duke opens my door and grabs the pizza boxes from me. I jump out afterwards, teasing, ‘Getting meaway from the lights of the townmakes you sound a bit like a serial killer, not gonna lie.’
‘If I was a serial killer, then this has been a very elaborate, twenty-one-years-in-the-making plan to murder you.’
‘Well, joke’s on you, because I took self-defence classes at college.’ Duke shakes his head with a chuckle. Even though I tried to forget, I still find myself saying, ‘Your phone kept going off, by the way.’
‘Oh, thanks.’ Duke tucks the pizzas under one arm and reaches to get his phone. When I chance a glance back, he’s checking the screen, a small smile fighting to break out on his face.How nice for Kelly.
But then he pockets his phone, shuts the door, and gestures for me to follow him around the truck bed. It’s then that I suddenly notice there’s a bunch of blankets and pillows scattered in it, stopping me in my tracks. How did I miss those when we were leaving the bar earlier?
