I’m overcompensating for mud and leaves.
“You look really nice,” Andi says.
She gives me a knowing grin.
Yeah, if Alex doesn’t notice, my two best friends will.
“That dress makes your legs and boobs look great,” Everly agrees from my opposite side.
Gee, it’s almost like they saved the stool between them for me so they could accost me from the sides.
“You never wear necklaces,” Thea, my cousin and Ruth’s mom, says. “That one is so cute.”
And now if I take the necklace off, it will be even more obvious.
I can’t let them think I like Alex.
Except I need to tell them that I’m dating him.
Fakedating him.
I should like him enough for that, shouldn’t I?
I can like him as the guy who’s going to make all of my plans a huge success. Who is going to save the hockey team. Who’s going to help make Harley the mayor one more time.
But I can’t like Alex more than that.
Alex is leaving.
I don’t date guys who aren’t from Rebel. Or guys who are from Rebel but plan to leave. Or guys who come to Rebel but don’t intend to stay.
Well, I don’t date those guysanymore.
I’ve done all of those things with bad results, so I’m not doing that again, and these two know that.
Alex Olsen is the epitome ofdo not get involved with him. He’s not only planning to leave, but he already knows that, unlike my last boyfriend. Hunter really did think he was going to stay. He wanted to make it work. I think.
But even Hunter, born and raised in Houston, fit in here better than Alex Olsen will.
“Thank you. Have you two been here all day?”
“On and off since you and the hockey player showed up,” Andi says.
“Thecutehockey player,” Everly adds.
They’re both self-employed, so I should have known they’d take time off for this.
“You met him already?” Thea asks.
“Yep,” Everly says. “Did I mention he’s very cute?”
I roll my eyes. “You already knew he was cute. It’s not like we’ve never seen photos or seen him play hockey.”
“He’s cuter in person, and when he feels awkward. You know how much I love when men are uncomfortable.” Andi lifts her iced tea and sips from the straw.
“You do look nice. Is there an event tonight?” Jesse Parsons asks, interrupting as she lays cash and her receipt down nextto the register on top of the pile of receipts and money already there.
I sigh and slide off my stool again, rounding the counter and opening the register to add all of the bills. There’s no sense in trying to ring everything up and make it all balance. I’m just grateful that Bruce’s accountant, AJ, has to deal with him and his year-end receipts, and I don’t. They’ve known each other since grade school, like everyone else here, and AJ knows exactly what to expect from Bruce and his “paperwork.”
