I nodded, clearing my throat.“Yeah.Yeah.”
“Surprised that Ever has a boyfriend?”she asked.
I shrugged, grabbing my beer again more for something to do than anything else.“Uh, just didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”
Ever had always had been part of the background of the Dairy Bar, and part of the same orbit as everyone else.
She was friends with Penny and the cousins, not me.
“Yeah, we met him tonight,” Adley said, taking another sip of her milk.“He came in a little before we left.”
I looked over at Mason.
“Seemed like an okay guy,” he said with a shrug.“Didn’t really say too much, but Ever seemed into him.”
I nodded once, lifting the beer to my lips.“Good for her.”
Adley’s gaze lingered on me a second longer than it should have.
There was something in the way she looked at me.Not judgment.Not exactly curiosity.Just… something.
I took a drink, letting the silence stretch for a beat before Mason pushed off the bar.“Another one?”he asked, nodding toward my emptying bottle.
I looked down at it, then back up at him.“Yeah,” I said.
He grabbed another from the fridge and tossed it to me.I caught it easily, twisting the cap off without thinking.
Seemed like getting drunk felt right tonight.
Chapter Five
Ever
The lull between lunch and dinner at the Dairy Bar always dragged.
Five customers were scattered around the place, each tucked into their own little corner like they’d settled in and decided not to move anytime soon.An older man sat at the counter with a cup of coffee he’d been nursing for the last half hour.A mom and her little kid were in one of the booths by the window, sharing fries and arguing over ketchup.Two teenagers were at the far table, heads bent close together over a phone, whispering and laughing like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
I stood behind the counter, running a rag in slow circles over a spot that didn’t need cleaning, just to have something to do.The hum of the machines filled the air, steady and familiar, and the faint smell of fryer oil and sugar clung to everything like it always did.
Lark wouldn’t be in for another hour, which meant it was just me again.
I didn’t mind it.Not really.I’d gotten used to it over the years—working shifts alone, handling orders, cleaning, and keeping things moving.It was easier in some ways.No one to talk to.No one to distract me.No one to watch me think too much.
I switched the rag to my other hand, glancing toward the door out of habit even though I knew no one was coming in right now.The open sign glowed in the window, but the heat outside had driven most people somewhere cooler for the afternoon.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket and I froze for half a second.
Technically, I wasn’t supposed to have it on me.My parents had always been strict about that—no phones out while working.It had been one of those rules that stuck, even now when they weren’t here to enforce it.
I glanced around quickly.The customers were all occupied.No one was paying attention to me.I pulled the phone out and flipped it over.Jesse.
A small, unexpected flicker hit my chest.
I answered before I could overthink it.“Hello?”
“What are you up to?”he asked.His voice was easy, like it always was.Like he hadn’t just caught me off guard in the middle of a shift.
“Just working,” I said, leaning one hip against the counter.“Like always.”
