Maybe she was thinking the same thing because she broke the moment, clearing her throat and looking away.
We started walking again.
“So,” she asked as we weaved through the crowd, “what do you think the timeline is on Flint and Avery getting married? Because I give it six months, tops.”
I barked out a laugh, grateful for the pivot. “I don’t know about marriage, but they’re definitely fucking. You can see it every time they’re in the same room. That man looks at her like a feral dog.”
Shelly covered her mouth, laughing. “Stop it. They’re my bosses.”
“I’m just saying what’s obvious to everyone in town. Those two are spending more timeinbed than out of it. I bet they fuck in the backstock room.”
She was still giggling when she suddenly grabbed my arm and said, “Oh no. Don’t look up.”
So naturally, I looked up immediately.
Hunter Davis was ambling through the crowd about twenty feet ahead, broad-shouldered and easy-going, giving off the kind of steady, reliable energy that women apparently went crazy for.
I knew Hunter. Decent guy. Good-looking in a clean-cut kind of way that made me feel slightly barbaric by comparison.
I slid my arm around Shelly’s waist and pulled her close to my side, making the picture clear to anyone paying attention.
“Why didn’t you want to go out with him?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “He’s a solid guy.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “That’s the problem.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Shelly shrugged, but it wasn’t casual. “My mom loves him. Everyone does. He’s stable. Safe. The kind of man you build a life with.”
She glanced up at me. “The kind of man I’msupposedto want.”
It felt like someone was working an ice pick inside my chest, trying to pry my heart out of my body.
It was selfish as fuck, but I hated the idea of Shelly settling down with someone.
Her last boyfriend had clung on forfartoo long, in my opinion.
“Glad you steered clear of that train wreck.Fuck,a man your mom approves of? Those are always thewrongkind of men,” I joked.
“It’s not his fault,” Shelly said. “He seems perfectly nice. He just…” she hesitated. “He reminds me of Tucker.”
Fucking Tucker.
That guy had been somerealcompetition.
Good job as a park ranger. Annoyingly good looks. And he’d been ready for everything that terrified me.
Cautiously, I asked, “And that’s abadthing?”
“It is, yeah.”
I still didn’t know why she’d dumped him. He’d pulled out a ring and everything. Said he wanted to father her babies.
I’d always thought that’s what women wanted.
But Shelly was right about one thing. I might fuck like a rockstar, but I had no idea whatelsewomen really wanted.
Hunter caught our eye as he passed and gave a friendly wave, his gaze sliding over us with easy recognition before he moved on. I watched him go and then looked back down at Shelly.
