“You’ve been right here all along?”
“I always am, baby.”
I roll my eyes. “Help a girl out, next time? I nearly slit his throat.”
“I was hoping that might happen—the old Brooklyn Hitman wouldn’t have thought twice.”
“We’re in Sycamore Heights, remember?” I swig my beer. “Get over it.”
He shakes his head. “What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”
“Waiting for my girlfriends.”
He lets out a bark of laughter. “Why don’t I believe that?” He eyes me. “Let me guess—your jock left you hanging.”
Ouch.How did he figure that one out?Because he sees you. It’s that simple.
“Can you please stop stalking me?”
“I’m looking out for you, Amy. There’s a difference.”
“I can look out for myself—doesn’t that make you happy? Maybe Ihaven’tchanged, after all.”
“No. I don’t think you have.”
Our eyes meet in the mirror, and I watch as he takes a gulp of his beer.
“Your crush is staring at us,” he murmurs.
“Don’t trigger him.”
He glances back at me, his eyes shining. “You’re getting me all nostalgic, Amy-Girl.”
“That nickname was cute when we were, like, fifteen.”
“I’m sorry,” he says abruptly.
“For what?”
“How I was the other day in the shop—I went pretty hard on you.”
“Yeah, you were talking shit. That’s cool, though. I’m used to it.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I was harsh, but I was honest. I wasn’ttalking shit, and tonight proves it. You’re sitting here with beer number three. All alone. Wanna tell me what that’s about?”
“No thanks.”
“Okay. I’m here if you need a friend, though.”
I swirl the dregs of my beer around in the bottle. “Since when were we ever friends?”
“That could be enough for me.”
I don’t believe that for a second, but it does give me pause. Maybe I can pretend it’s true, just for tonight. Maybe that way, at least I can stop obsessing over Lewis.
We spend an hour, Esteban and I, chatting like old friends, reminiscing about all the crazy shit we used to get up to, and while the memories would normally make me wince, tonight we’re laughing over them. Sycamore Heights Amy is off-duty—hanging out with Esteban is like catching up with the old me.
I glance at my phone. Three messages from Raven.
