“How’d you know I served in the Navy?” Finn asks with a chuckle.
She smirks and still hasn’t made a move to pull her hand away. “You have that something-something of a Navy man. Let me guess…captain?”
“Right on the money,” he says.
They are still holding hands, and customers with questions are starting to hover and stare.
But this show is so good, I’d like some popcorn.
I lean in to whisper in Oliver’s ear, and he bows his head down to hear me better. “She can pick out a man’s particular uniform like some people can trace accents. It’s a gift.”
“Remarkable.”
With her strawberry-blonde hair, pouty lips, and soft curves, this is a typical reaction from men. Her sexiness is subtle until you get up close and personal. Then, it’s curtains. My best friend is a freaking bombshell. Hell, I might have had a tiny crush on her myself when we were in college together.
Oliver and I let the two of them continue flirting while we keep an eye on the books and handle transactions.
“You have a bookstore here in town? I bet it has your personality all over it,” Finn says.
“Someday,” Skylar replies. “I put in an application to rent a storefront on Second Street, but it’s gotten pretty competitive lately. Plus, it’s going to need renovations. I probably don’t stand a chance, but fingers crossed.”
“I hope you get it,” Finn says. “Truly, I do. I know it’d be a great place.”
“You’re precious.”
“You keep saying that, and you’re going to make me blush,” Finn laughs. “Enough about me. Tell me more about you.”
“I’m going to sell records, too. And maybe comic books. And candles and tarot cards and other stuff that nobody else carries in this town. A person needs to diversify in this economy,” she says.
“I agree. As a commercial contractor, I can’t tell you how depressing it is when I get paid a ton of money to help people make their dreams come true, only to see the whole thing go belly up a year later because they don’t have a plan.”
“I hate that for them,” she says.
This whole conversation has me reeling. Skylar is a consummate flirt, and I’m about to say something to Oliver, who’s standing off to the side, staring off into the middle distance.
Safely out of earshot of my friend, I say to him, “I think your brother is almost as big a flirt as you.”
Oliver doesn’t answer at first, and startles when he finally realizes I’m talking to him.
“Oh. Yeah. Um, listen, I have to go talk to somebody about…something.”
I blink at him. “Okay.” His whole demeanor seems to have shifted, but I don’t know why.
“Sorry to abandon you, but it’s…I’ll tell you later.”
This man is not my boyfriend. He has no obligation to tell me if he’s wandering off. I smile, even though the thought of him walking away, looking as unsettled as he does, has me worried. He has the serious, faraway look of someone who has no intention of calling me again. He’s going to disappear, and of course, why would he call me? He only contacts me through the app. We haven’t even exchanged phone numbers, so I’m not even a real booty call to him. “Of course. You don’t need my permission,” I say with a brave smile. “Have fun.”
He quickly squeezes my shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight.”
No kiss, not even on the forehead. But why would he do that? We’re not an item. We’ve only kissed inside my house. Haven’t we? Maybe he wants to keep us a secret.
Or maybe he’s had enough of the gossip in this town. He’s distancing himself because of how absolutely suffocating everyone can be.
During a lunchtime lull in the crowd, I check my phone and casually notice that Oliver has been gone for an hour. I’m passing the time with a stupid game on my phone while Skylar and Finn continue flirting and chatting about who knows what.
I’m low-key jealous of the banter, the giggling, the unabashed googly eyes they make at each other.
Out of nowhere, Skylar tugs at the sleeve of my cardigan. “Mayday!”
