1
SAVANNAH
It’s Friday morning,and Midnight Tales is bustling with customers. All the bookworms of Cherry Hollow are stocking up for their weekend reading, hauling stacks of paperbacks to the counter for me to ring up.
I love working in a place full of books. Whenever the store is quiet, I get to explore the aisles for my next read—usually a light and fluffy romance with a happily ever after.
Fictional meet-cutes are a great distraction from my own non-existent love life.
Heck, they’re such a great distraction that I’ve even started trying to write a few romance stories myself. They’re all pretty unsubtle wish fulfillment—curvy small-town girls meeting Prince Charming in a bookstore. My grandma likes to exaggerate and tell everyone I’m an author, but my stories are never leaving the depths of my laptop—no matter how many times she asks to read them.
She’d probably be disappointed by the lack of smut.
All my stories end with chaste kisses, then fade to black. No sex. I’d like to write something steamier, like the books I actually read, but I cringe at every attempt. Probably because I’m a virgin with about as much sexual experience as a houseplant.
I force this depressing thought aside, smiling at the last customer in line. The store is quieting down as midday approaches, and my boss takes my place behind the register so I can go grab lunch. She waves me off as I wind through rows of bookshelves and armchairs, heading outside into the chilly afternoon.
The streets of Cherry Hollow are filled with people heading for lunch, all of them bundled up in coats and scarves as snow drifts to the ground. I didn’t bother wrapping up. I’m only heading to Mountain Brew, the coffee shop next door, where my best friend and I meet for lunch every day. Josie works at the diner down the street, so it’s a short walk for both of us.
I enter the coffee shop, savoring the warmth as I breathe in the familiar scent of old wood and coffee. Josie is already waiting for me at our usual corner table, fiddling with a lock of her long red hair. She’s got a dreamy expression on her face, eyes far-off and wistful, but she snaps out of it when she sees me approaching.
“Hey, Sav!”
“Hi.” I lean down to hug her before sliding into the seat opposite. Two steaming mugs of hot chocolate sit on the table in front of us.
“Thanks for getting the drinks,” I say.
“Oh, these are both mine.” Josie circles her arms around the hot chocolates, guarding them fiercely. “If you want one, you’ll have to fight me.”
“Or I could just do this.” I reach over to tickle under her arm, snorting when she yelps like a seal and twists away from me.
“Ugh, you win.” She slides a hot chocolate across the table, keeping her arms clamped tight to her sides. “I can’t believe I’m rewarding your evil tactics.”
I laugh, taking a sip. It’s delicious as usual, topped with cream, marshmallows, and chocolate shavings.
“Let me buy the food to make it up to you,” I say, setting the mug down.
“It’s the least you can do for the trauma you just inflicted.” Josie shoots me a teasing glare. “But it’s my turn to pay. I already ordered.”
We always get the same thing. Mountain Brew might be known for coffee, but they also make the best grilled cheese sandwich in town, and my mouth is watering when the server brings our food out a few minutes later.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Josie says as we tuck in. “Tell Aria I said congratulations! Someone at the diner told me the news.”
Of course she knows already.
I only heard about my cousin Aria’s engagement this morning, but word spreads stupidly fast in this town, especially at Bernie’s Diner.
“Thanks. I’ll tell Aria when I see her.”
“It happened pretty fast, right?” Josie says. “Didn’t she only just meet Thorne?”
“Yep, less than a month ago.” I shrug. “When you know, you know, I guess.”
I’m thrilled for Aria. My cousin has been through a lot of crap lately, and she deserves her happy ending with Thorne Dalton. That man is crazy about her, and he obviously couldn’t wait to put a ring on her finger. I know they’ll be happy together…but I can’t help the twist of jealousy in my gut.
I hate myself for it.
“You okay, Sav?” Josie asks, scanning me with those bright green eyes as if she can read my thoughts. Sometimes, it feels like she really can.
