“I’m going to have to ask you to keep it down,” Holland says as he approaches the table, clearly joking. The bar is empty besides the three of us. He’s still in his flannel and jeans from earlier.
“A joke? From Holland? What’s the special occasion?” Bea asks.
Holland shrugs her off and acts like he does this all the time. It feels like he doesn’t. He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt and then pours his own drink from behind the bar. The bartender barely notices he’s there.
He sits down next to Bea and across from me. Holland brings the drink to his lips. Our eyes catch and my cheeks feel hot. It’s like he caught me staring.
“I was just telling Ivy about my favorite Brad moments—”
“Bea. Leave the poor kid alone,” Holland interrupts.
“He’s not a kid. He’s a man. A grown adult. If someone doesn’t playfully make fun of him, how will he ever change?” She says it like she’s doing him a favor.
I laugh under my breath and take another sip of my cider. Bea sounds serious.
“I mean, he is eighteen, right?” I interject.
Holland looks at me, mouth slightly open, seeming a little surprised I jumped in.
“Yes. He’stechnicallyan adult,” he says, still looking at me. “But not really.” He emphasizes while turning towards Bea.
“When will we cut the cord?” Bea asks and dramatically looks up to the ceiling, her fingers spread out in exasperated fashion.
Holland rolls his eyes. I bet they do this all the time.
“Remember when I kept signing the guest room notes with LOL, thinking it meant lots of love? You finally asked me about it and laughed so hard when I told you what I thought it meant.” She claps her hands and sets them both down on the table. “Ivy. He ran to the first open room, grabbed the note, and brought it back.”
“I had to!” Holland says. He’s fighting a smile on his lips. His jaw is clenched. What is it about a man trying not to smile that is so attractive?
I’m holding back my own laugh because I don’t want to interrupt this exchange.
“He then proceeded to read it aloud to all of the staff present—”
“You were signing the notes with ‘Enjoy your time at the Emerald Canopy Lodge. Laugh Out Loud.’” He laughs as he explains. But then, it’s like he catches himself and pulls it back.
“I thought it meant lots of love!” Bea is louder now, giggling at herself.
“Even if it meant that, it was still weird.” He takes a long drink.
“Agree to disagree but you made fun of me, and I stopped. I swear, we’re doing Brad a favor,” she says matter-of-factly.
Bea playfully bumps her shoulders into Holland, drinks what’s left of her drink, and gets right into the next story.
After another cider, I glance at my phone to check the time. I’m stunned when I realize Bea’s been in story-mode for over an hour. Time’s flying.
When I look up, there’s Holland. His lips turned up in the smallest of grins. He wears an expression that makes me feel like I’ve been caught red-handed.
But I don’t stop. I like the way he’s looking at me.
My face feels hot. I don’t know if it’s the drinks, the laughing, or this man’s almost smile.
The longer we look at each other, with Bea still talking in the background, I can’t help but grin.
I know we’re busted when Bea stops, glancing between the two of us.
“Well, look at the time. I should get going.” Bea finishes her dark beer. Not subtle at all. “It was so great meeting you, Ivy. If I don’t see you tomorrow for checkout, safe travels.”
She moves to sit beside me and pulls me into an actual side hug. The few seconds we’re there feels wholesome. It’s nice. Quite the contrast from the unwanted attention from Royce earlier. I hug her back. She gives Holland some sort of look—I can’t put my finger on it.
