“And then what?” Audrey asks.
I quirk a brow at her. “What do you mean?”
My sister-in-law’s smile turns sly.
“Well, you’re going to have all that free time, that big empty house you bought... Leo here’s going to need a cousin to play with eventually.”
A cousin. Right.
I keep my expression neutral, but something tightens in my chest. Audrey means well—she always does—but she doesn't know what it's actually like out there.
I've done the circuit. I've dated the ring girls with their spray tans and fake lashes, the ones who laugh at everything I sayand never ask a single question about my life. I've taken out the Instagram models who want courtside seats and tagged photos and disappear the second the cameras stop flashing.
They all blur together after a while.
They have the same fillers, the same extensions, the same look in their eyes when they're calculating what being seen with me might do for their follower count. And they’re all stick-thin, plastic, and about as interested in the real me as I am in them.
I stopped looking a long time ago.
I shake my head firmly.
“Sorry, sis. Peace and quiet are what’s next for me. I’m going to fish, sleep past five AM, and not have to worry about making weight. I don’t have time for relationships.”
Audrey giggles.
“Just you wait, Ben Mitchell. Someday soon, you’re going to meet a woman who’s going to bring all of those caveman walls crashing down. And when she does, I’m going to be right there saying I told you so.”
Leo suddenly lets out a wail that could shatter glass, his tiny face scrunching up red.
“What’s wrong, buddy?” I whisper to him.
“He’s probably just overstimulated,” Audrey says as she takes him from me. “This diner is kind of loud. Too many new faces, too much noise.” She digs through the diaper bag with her free hand. “Reign, did you pack the lavender spray?”
My brother’s face falls.
“Shit, I forgot it. I think it’s still sitting on the counter.”
Audrey groans.
“Lavender spray?” I ask, curiously.
“It’s from this local shop called Scents and Sensibility.” Audrey looks desperate as Leo’s screams attract more stares. “The lavender spray that they sell is the only thing that calms Leo down. The owner, Tilly, makes it herself.”
“How far away is the shop?” I ask.
Audrey nods towards the window. “Just across the street, actually.”
I slide out of the booth, already standing. “You two stay here. I’ll go grab some and I’ll be right back.”
I’m already weaving between tables, ignoring the stares and whispers that follow me. The bell over the door jingles as I step out onto the sidewalk, squinting in the morning sunlight.
The shop sits directly across the street, its purple awning flapping gently in the mountain breeze. A hand-painted sign hangs in the window:Scents and Sensibility: Science You Can Smell.
I cross quickly, pulling open the door to the sound of a delicate chime.
The shop is cozy, filled with shelves of colorful bottles, candles, and soaps. The scent is pleasant but not overwhelming. Nothing like the perfume counters that make me want to hold my breath when I walk past. I glance around the shop and see a woman standing with her back to me, restocking a shelf of blue glass bottles. She’s wearing AirPods, her head bobbing slightly as she hums along to whatever music is playing.
Her curly brown hair tumbles past her shoulders, barely contained by a pencil stuck through a messy bun. She’s wearing a burnt orange cardigan over a vintage band t-shirt, and her skirt is some kind of floral pattern that shouldn’t work with the cardigan but somehow does. Even from behind, I can tell she’s curvy in all the right places. And when she bends slightly to arrange bottles on the display, the fabric of her skirt pulls across her ass, and I take a moment to appreciate the view before forcing myself to look away and focus on what I came here for.
