“You can be excused.”
Harper takes her plate to the sink and runs off to her room.
“Maybe I’ll sneak into one of these classes so I can see it for myself.”
I lean back in my seat and sip my ice water. “Paying customers only.”
“You just want Dorian all to yourself, don’t you?” She widens her big green eyes at me. “He’s hot now, right?”
“He’s always been hot.”
Elena sits up fast and points right at me. “I knew it! You’re into him.”
“Am not.” But my reply is lackluster. I just gave myself away.
She gasps. “Youare. I thought you got over him when he was a total jerk to you.”
“I did…like, back then. But now he’s different? I don’t know. College Dorian and Current Dorian feel like two different guys.” Like one was leaner with an ever-present frown, and the other has forearms that make me drool. Oh my gosh, what are hiscalveslike?
Elena considers this. “He’s a good guy. You should go for it.”
How deep did these brunches get for Elena to form this opinion of him? “And probably be rejected again?”
“What do you meanagain?”
I can’t tell her about graduation. But there are plenty of other examples. “You know, how he used to move every time I’d sit by him. When he told Ashley he didn’t want to go on the Destin trip because he found out I was going to be there. How he left karaoke night as soon as I got up to sing.”
“Could have been a coincidence.”
“Unlikely. It felt like he was always finding excuses to leave places the moment I arrived. All four years of college were like that.”
“Yeah, those were all pretty pointed. I don’t know. Have you asked him about it?”
“I want to, but what if his answer is embarrassing?” I affect a low voice. “Sorry, Piper, I could tell you had a fat crush on me back then and didn’t want anything to do with you, so the easiest thing was to run away.”
“But he kept acting like that even after you started dating Kyle.”
“Right?” I toss my hands in the air. “I don’t get it. The only answer could be that I was annoying, right? He just didn’t want to be my friend.”
“But he does now.”
“Now he’s tolerating me.” But even as the words leave my lips, I know they’re not true. His signals have been strong, and nothing he’s done since the first moment he showed up in my shop last week has indicated any running away.
I don’t know what to think. I also can’t stop thinking about him, which is a little pathetic and makes me feel like a twelve-year-old hoping to get asked to her first middle school dance. Which means I need to nip this in the bud and have an adult conversation.
Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
nine
dorian
Luke’s houseis an old Victorian bungalow on Main Street in Franklin, tidy and warm, with dark colors and original hardwood floors throughout. It’s on the outskirts of Nashville, so he’s just as close to our parents’ house as I am, and I live in the city. He bought it right after retiring from his short-lived career in the NFL, but we don’t talk about it much in our family. It will forever be a sore subject.
I can tell Piper wants to ask, though. She’s been observing the house like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka’s factory ever since she stepped through the door an hour ago. If she’s trying to puzzle out why a beefcake like my brother owns a historical masterpiece and cares for it like a baby, she’s not going to find her answers by admiring his damask wallpaper and copper kitchen faucet.
How do I know what these things are called? Well, guess who helped him install them?
“Fishbowl, anyone?” Carrie asks, gathering the cards from Phase 10 to put back in the box.
