“Caffeine,” Amelia groans. “Caffeine would be good right now.”
As soon as we walk in the door of the coffee shop, Gloria glares at Amelia. “You’re in trouble.”
“She had to sleep it off, Glo. Our Minnie went out dancing last night.”
“Oh, I know she did. Frank was in here earlier, looking just as tired as this one.” Gloria points a finger at Amelia.
My head snaps up. Fuck. She went out with a man last night? After our thing in the bathroom?
No, fuck that. She’s mine. And fuck, I’m hers. I have been for a goddamned year.
Enough tiptoeing around it. We’re going to hash our shit out, and I’m going to prove how much she means to me. That we belong together.
“I hope he’s miserable,” Amelia mutters. “He kept me on the dance floor for hours.”
“He always did wear you out, sugar.” Gloria winks at Amelia, who laughs. I don’t want to hear this shit. Is this guy an ex?
Lizzie pulls out her phone. “Matt sent me a video!” Gloria hurries around and stands next to me, and I’m forced to watch as Amelia dances with a good-looking blonde guy who is about her age. I clench my fists and try not to growl like a fucking animal.
The real Amelia crinkles her brow at me, so maybe I didn’t hold that growl in like I thought.
The video continues and another woman walks up, laughing and hugging Amelia before kissing Frank. Now I’m all kinds of confused.
“Oh, there’s Claudia! Frank said it was their first night out since the baby was born,” Gloria says.
“She wanted to cheer Matt up and figured drinks and dancing would do the trick,” Amelia replies.
Lizzie chuckles. “Dad looks lost again.”
“There’s a lot of people to keep track of here!” I point out. Gloria cackles and walks back around the counter to get our order ready.
“True. You’re doing good so far! Frank and Matt are brothers, and they used to take classes with us at the studio. Claudia and Frank have been together since like middle school, and she and Matt are best friends.” Lizzie turns to Amelia. “Why did Matt need cheering up?”
“That dickhead Daniel broke his heart again.”
“Oh god, he took Daniel back? This is what, the third time?”
“Fourth. How many more of us do you think it would take to beat the shit out of him if we have Haven with us?”
“Matt or Daniel?”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “Daniel. Matt’s our friend, Bean. We don’t beat up friends.”
“You kicked Dean in the nuts once, and he’s our friend. We just had dinner with him and Tanya last week.”
“He was being a dick and deserved it. And we were fourteen.”
With our coffees and pastries in hand, we get back in the car and drive over to Portland again a few minutes later.
Every day in the car with Amelia is a new version of torture. The tension between us is thicker after our bathroom rendezvous last night and my caveman jealousy this morning. Each time I glance up at the mirror in my sun visor, I catch her gaze for just a moment before she quickly looks away.
Once inside the bookstore, we do a quick walkthrough together, but then go off in our own directions. Over the next couple of hours, I explore every section, amazed at the number of signed copies there are.
I walk around a corner and find Amelia looking at a rack of socks. This store really has the most random collection of stuff.
“Socks?”
She smiles softly. “Christy’s birthday is coming up, and she loves weird socks.” She picks a couple of pairs and puts them in her basket. I see a few books, some magnets of cat butts, and a unicorn journal in it already.
