“Oh.” He handed Linc the beer.
“Something wrong?”
He had no delicate way to say this. “She’s kind of intimidating.”
Linc chuckled. “I’ll protect you, Red. Don’t you worry about that.”
* * *
“You didn’t pick him up?” Vasquez said over her rum and coke.
Linc snorted. “Why would I do that?”
“Maybe he doesn’t know how to get here?”
“He’s lived here for years.”
Wanda’s eyes widened. “You’re dating a townie?”
Vasquez elbowed her gently. “I told you they weren’t dating.”
For the twentieth time since he’d taken Vasquez up on her offer to get together, Linc regretted the choices he’d made since coming to Seacroft.
An increasingly familiar redhead appeared in the bar’s doorway.
Well, except that choice. After the migraine incident, Linc’s brain was full of things he shouldn’t want to remember. The soft hair in his fingers, the warmth of Avery’s body curled up against Linc on the couch. He’d enjoyed that a lot. Far more than he had any right to.
“Hey, guys!” Avery waved, eyes darting around them like a frightened squirrel. Linc shifted in the booth to give him a safe place to sit, away from Vasquez’s toothy smile.
“Hey, Avery, nice to see you again,” she said and introduced Wanda. She was not at all what Linc expected: blonde, with big glasses embellished with pink rhinestones. She wore a floral print dress and strappy sandals, while Vasquez sat next to her in a T-shirt that saidI Can Do It Bleeding.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Avery said. He folded his hands on the table in front of him like a student waiting for the lesson to start. So tempting to poke him in the ribs, make him squirm and get him to relax, but as aware as Linc was of Avery, he was even more conscious of Vasquez’s eyes on him as they did the small-talk thing.
“So how did you guys meet?” Wanda said.
“Oh, we’re not together,” Avery said. Linc risked a glance at Vasquez, who raised her eyebrows at him, inviting him to say something.
His toes curled in his shoes.
“But you still met,” Wanda said.
“Hmm?”
Linc groaned inwardly. Of all the times for Avery to finally find a way to control his endless stream of words, it had to be now?
He leaned in to whisper low in Avery’s ear. “I can’t actually tell her how we met. We’re not allowed to talk about callouts.”
Avery swung his head, his mouth so close to Linc’s cheek that breath puffed over his skin. “Callouts?”
“It violates privacy laws for me to talk about how you can’t be left alone in the kitchen.”
Avery sat back just enough for his green eyes came into focus. “Oh.” The eyes widened. “Oh!” He turned back to Vasquez and Wanda. “I set a sweet potato on fire in the microwave and Linc saved me.”
Vasquez choked on her drink.
“You okay?” Linc asked sweetly.
“Mm-hmm.” She licked her lips. “That’s exactly how I remember it too.”
