I lived here.
Some people would say I still lived at home, but my parents were gone more than they were here, and when they were here, it still felt like I was the one keeping everything running.
So yeah.
I lived here.
And one day, it would all be mine.
The Dairy Bar.The house.Everything they’d built.
I took another sip of the wine cooler and pushed open the back door, stepping out onto the deck.
The night air wrapped around me immediately, cool against my skin, carrying the faint sound of frogs from the pond out back.The deck stretched wide across the back of the house, leading down to the yard and the gazebo that sat just off to the side, half-hidden by the trees.
It was beautiful out here.
I leaned against the railing, resting my elbows on the wood as I stared out over the water.The surface of the pond reflected the moonlight in broken ripples, the occasional movement from something beneath the surface sending small waves across it.
I took a sip of the wine cooler.
It had been a… good night.
I hesitated even thinking it, like saying it too confidently might ruin it somehow, but it had been.
Jesse had picked me up right after my shift, just like he said he would.He’d been on time.Clean.Put together without looking like he tried too hard.He’d taken me to this little place just outside of town.Nothing fancy, but not cheap either.
Somewhere in the middle.
We’d talked about normal things.Work.Growing up.Why he’d moved here.He’d listened when I talked, asked questions like he actually wanted the answers, laughed at the right moments without it feeling forced.
He hadn’t stared at me in that way that made me want to disappear into my own skin.
He hadn’t ignored me either.
Just… treated me like I was there.
Like I mattered.
I took another sip.
It had been good.
No sparks and no butterflies, but good.
And maybe that was enough.Or maybe it was supposed to be.
I shifted my weight against the railing, staring out at the water as I tried to sort through the rest of it.
I’d been on dates before.
None of them stuck.
Maybe because they weren’t him.
I took a longer drink this time, the sweetness of it almost too much as it slid down my throat.Hell, how in the world did I get so obsessed with Jude?
I let out a quiet breath, staring harder at the pond like it might have an answer for me.
