I set my spoon down. “Alex was therewhileeveryone was discussing the date?”
“Oh, yeah.” She grins as she takes a bite of salad.
“So he knows they were downvoting his date?” Andi asks. She laughs and shakes her head. “Poor guy. He’s definitely going to need friendly faces at breakfast.”
I sigh. “This isnothelping! He has to like it here! And they have to like him!”
“Okay,” Everly says. “I get that.”
“But you have to admit that date wasn’t really your thing,” Sutton says. “You’re a leftovers on the back porch while you watch the sunset girl, not a white tablecloth girl. He was trying to show off. The town saw right through that.”
I think about that and feel a little pain in my chest. I don’t know if I would have labeled it as showing off, but it was clear that Alex had been much more comfortable in the setting we were in last night than he probably was at Perks and Rec this morning.
Our lives are so different. And the people in my life, and the places I love here in Rebel, all around him, are constant reminders of that to him.
“Well, I didn’t hate the white tablecloths,” I say honestly. “But it was the company that I enjoyed. He’s a good guy. And we have a chance to show everyone that he can fit in here too. That’s what this movie night is about.”
“So the emergency is that you changed to a new movie,” Sutton says, getting up for a second helping of salad. “Why the change?”
Of course, these three are on the text message and email list that I send out Parks and Recreation information to. When I decided to change the movie for tonight at the very last minute, I had to notify everyone. Interestingly, no one had asked why. Or pushed back. I assume everyone is just taking this in stride.
“Because this movie is Alex’s favorite. I wanted it to be something familiar to him, so he’d feel comfortable.”
Everly stops mid-chew. “You changed the movie for movie night to Alex’s favorite?”
I nod.
Her eyes narrow. “Wait a second.”
“What?”
“Youactuallylike him.”
“I…” I frown.
I do. I told him that I was at risk of getting attached. But I need to be careful. Not just because I don’t want the heartbreak, but I don’t want the people who care about me to be upset either. I don’t want my grandpas or Ruth or Thea getting attached to Alex thinking he and I are more than we are. I don’t want these girls thinking Alex is more to me than he can be.
“He needs to feel comfortable here,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time. “He needs to feel accepted and happy. We want him to play well and do a great job promoting what we’re doing here with the hockey team. If he feels like everyone is against him and they don’t like him or want him here, it’s going to be hard for him to smile and be happy in interviews and to ham it up on the ice.”
Everly chews her bite of salad, then shakes her head. “But youlikehim.”
I sigh. “Fine. I like him.”
“So…what else happened last night?” Everly asks, leaning in with a smile.
“Nothing.”
“More than dinner,” she says, pointing her fork at me. “I can tell.”
I look at her in surprise. “You can not.”
“I can. You are so easy to read, Nora. You like him, and you did not just eat dinner and come home.”
“We walked through the Quarter.”
“And what else?”
I blow out a breath. “Fine. He kissed me.”
