As she walks to the counter, I stare after her, watching every movement she makes as she waits in the short line. I sit when she makes it to the counter to order from Liz, the two of them laughing and talking animatedly.
I guess they’ve met.
Ben whistles low from across the table, drawing my attention.
“What?”
“You’ve go it bad.”
“No kidding,” I deadpan. “You know I’ve never been attracted to anyone before. Not their scent, not their personality. I could say a girl was hot, but it meant nothing. Like, ‘Yeah, that chick’s good looking,’ but,” I shrug, head shaking. “With Adley…”
“It’s completely different.”
“Yeah. I think I’m like, consumed by her.”
Ben grins. “You’ll be that way forever.”
Oh. That’s not great news. I’d like to get through the day without my every thought revolving around Adley, at least once in a while.
Like he can read the thoughts across my face, Ben laughs. “Things will smooth out once you, you know.”
Ah. The mating makes things easier.
But I don’t want to rush anything. The last thing I want is for our first time to be a disappointment. For any time we share to be, actually.
Adley returns a moment later with a tall cup and a strawberry-cheese danish I kind of eyeball when she puts it on the table. She turns to Ben. “I have to ask you something that may be a little strange.”
Ben grins. “If you want to see Adam’s baby pics, they’re at the house. He’s especially cute in the bath with all the bubbles on his head. I’ll show them to you later.”
I glare at my brother, and Adley giggles, and it’s so adorable, I stare at her, wide-eyed.
“No, no. Though that would be cute. But, actually, I used to spend every summer here when I was a kid. I would stay with my Uncle Jim. And Adam looked so familiar when I first saw him, but we figured out we couldn’t have met. For one, we’d have absolutely remembered it after a certain age, and for two, well,” she gives me a look I can’t read. “Adam is five years younger than me, and he said he was away a lot as a kid.”
Inwardly, I wince at her words. I know Ben won’t take them the wrong way, but I can’t help my knee-jerk reaction to worry.
Ben is twelve years older than me. Both our parents were dead by the time I was almost thirteen.
I spent a lot of years away at school. Boarding school, then university.
“Actually, the more I look at you, I think I do recognize you from somewhere.” Ben squints at Adley, then purses his lips. “Were you here the year they had the carnival in the hotel parking lot? It only happened once in my lifetime.”
“Oh, yes! I absolutely was. That was the last year I stayed the summer before going to university.” Adley is so excited, I smile on her behalf. And a second later, her mouth forms an O of surprise. “You were there. You worked the Tilt-a-Whirl ride!”
Ben laughs. “Yeah, that was me. I needed some extra cash.” His head shakes. “You were too scared to get on the ride.”
She huffs, giving him a knowing look. “I wasn’t scared of the ride, more of how it was constructed in such a short time, just to be taken down a week later.”
Ben’s laugh turns to a chuckle. “Now I remember. We talked about it over cotton candy on my break.”
Adley’s head shakes. “You flirted with every single girl you saw there. And you—”
She cuts herself off, lips clamped shut before sipping her coffee.
Wait, what? She can’t stop the story there. “What did he do?”
My voice comes out way more aggressive than I intended, but I don’t really care.
Ben chimes in then. “Calm down. I tried out my game on Adley and got denied.”
