It’s been years of pining for the man. Popping in the cafe before, and sometimes after, my shifts just to see him and say hi. Surely at some point he’s had to realize? To notice that the curvy bookstore manager comes in far more often than a regular customer?
Chloe grins as she tosses her dark hair over her shoulder. “What can I say? I randomly asked him while picking this up earlier.” She rattles her near-empty iced coffee.
“Just like that? And he said yes?” A kernel of doubt blooms, but I swat it away.
“Yeah. So now you have two hotties coming to Trivia Night,” she whispers. “What are you gonna do?”
“Chloe!” I hiss, peeking over my shoulder to ensure Dominic can’t hear us. He can’t, because he’s apparently brought the cash to the safe in the back. Realizing that I’ve done the bare minimum on closing duties, I rush around the store to finish the reshelves. By the time Dominic emerges from the back room, he’s wearing a worn leather coat.
“Where is this place?”
Swallowing hard, I stutter out, “Just down the-there. Down there, the street over there.”
“Oh my god, Pen,” Chloe says, barely holding back her laughter. “Go get your coat and let’s go.”
Face aflame, I rush past Dominic toward the break room to grab my coat and purse. It would be really, really unfortunate if I continued to stutter out my words during trivia with Dominic and Andrew in attendance.
Trivia Night is atCoach’s Corner, the sports bar just off the main downtown drag. It’s always busy, drawing in both serioustrivia fanatics and casual players. We fall into the latter category, attending when it works for our schedules. The prizes are never anything to write home about, but the drink specials can be good.
And right now, sitting at a long high-top table across from Dominic and next to Andrew? It’s one of my favorite places in the world. I’m already on my second vodka soda because my nerves have me taking sips every thirty seconds. Dom looks uncomfortable and I can tell a loud, crowded bar isn’t his thing. Andrew has spent most of the time talking to Chloe, who’s sitting on his other side. Our other team players include Jasper, Chloe’s cousin, and Lincoln, Jasper’s boyfriend.
“Okay, teams, question number four coming up. Ah, perfect for you young adult fantasy nerds out there.” There’s a smattering of claps and shouts. “InThe Chronicles of Narnia, who owns the house with the wardrobe?”
Our team huddles in and Chloe says, “Pen knows this” at the exact time Dominic says, “I know this.”
We collectively look at him, stunned since he’s been silent ever since we arrived thirty minutes ago. Dom tilts his head toward me, as if waiting for me to say the answer. Shaking my head, I say, “No, you do it.” I reach for the paper and pen in the center of the table, sliding it his way.
His hand brushes mine as he takes the pen and I feel the same sort of buzz at the contact as I did when I looked closely at his tattoo last month. Dominic’s body is all hard, sharp lines, juxtaposed by soft skin. I’m a sucker for forearms, the way his are covered in tattoos has me almost drooling. I’m also a sucker for hands, and his are large, veiny— just very masculine. Listen, apparently I’m just a sucker for Dom.
As he writes the answer down, Andrew keeps the conversation going. It’s hard to hear him over all the chatter in the bar, and he continues to lean to his right, facing away fromme. It’s not until Jasper says, “Oh come on now. That’s not very nice,” that my ears perk up and I start paying closer attention. He’s got a grin on his face though, so I want to know what was said.
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear.”
Andrew turns toward me a bit, still laughing. “I was just saying how pathetic it must be to be an adult enjoying middle grade fiction.” A sinking feeling in my stomach anchors me to my seat and I find myself at a loss for words. So, Andrew continues, “Some people just need to grow up.”
I can feel Dominic’s and Chloe’s eyes on me. Chloe at least knows how desperately I’ve been a fan ofThe Chronicles of Narniaseries for most of my life. Even now, as an “adult,” it’s still incredibly meaningful to me. And here is this attractive guy that I’ve been silently crushing on for years, sharing such a humiliating opinion of people like me. Blinking back emotion, I force myself to breathe.
“Yeah, kind of like those Disney adults. Can’t decide which is worse, to be honest! Oh wait, I’m both.” The words tumble out of my mouth and I hate myself for them, because I’m both a middle grade fiction fanandDisney adult. “Excuse me, I’m going to grab another drink.”
Sliding off my stool, I head to the bar even though I left half of my drink on the table. I’m not sure why it hurts to hear Andrew speak that way about something important to me. I don’t know him, never really did. Maybe it’s a good thing he said that, because now I don’t have to carry on wasting my time crushing on him anymore.
The bar is packed, so I politely push and shove my way around groups clumped here and there. Once I see a fragment of an opening, I slide my way up to the bar and pray the groups on either side will give me a bit more room, but what I have is enough. I order a shot of Jack, hoping the searing burn of thewhiskey will wash the disappointment away so I can go back and focus on the rest of the questions.
The whisky makes my eyes water and as I walk back to the table, I take a detour to the restroom. I know I’ve missed a question or two at this point, but I don’t really care. I’m about to push open the women’s restroom door when I hear raised voices coming from around the corner. There’s a hallway that leads to a back entrance, usually frequented by smokers. The voices are familiar so I peek my head around, my heart jumping into my throat when I see it’s Dominic and Andrew.
Dominic has his back to me, hands shoved into the pockets of his leather coat, and he’s so tall, I can’t see Andrew at all.
“Come on, man,” Andrew says easily, “she’s an adult. I’m sure her feelings aren’t hurt by what I said.”
“If you’re into her, you should apologize. That’s all I’m saying.” Dominic's voice holds disappointment, but wait, what? Andrew? Into me? The thought brings a spark of excitement, but it's quickly extinguished by his next words.
“Into Penelope?” Andrew laughs. The sound echoes in my heart, breaking it into pieces. “You’re joking. Oh shit, you’re not joking. Dude, I only came because Chloe invited me.”
Sighing, I start to turn and head back to the table, but Andrew continues, his words holding me in place.
"Plus, I'm not sure what kind of women you're attracted to, but physically Penelope is at the bottom of the barrel. I'm not into overweight women who don't take care of themselves."
The words are like knives, slicing me up and down, exposing every vulnerable part. It’s a mix of humiliation and anger, shame and regret. I don’t stick around to hear how this plays out. Back at the table, I grab my purse. “Not feeling good,” I mumble to Jasper, Lincoln, and Chloe.
