“I’m good.” He shifted his attention back to Jay. “I came to talk to you.”
“Intriguing.”
Dusty grabbed Jay’s beer and, once she’d paid, she turned to look at him. “You have my attention. But if this is about thespilled coffee on your keyboard, it was Joel. That fucker bragged about blaming me.”
“It isn’t about that.”
“Okay.” She sipped her beer. “Shoot.”
Fuck, how did he even word this? “We’re friends, right?”
“Most of the time. Not when you take the last slice like you paid for the entire pizza. Yes, I’m holding onto that.”
Ethan didn’t even crack a smile. “Good. Because someone said something to me about you seeing me asmorethan a friend.”
She froze, beer midway to her mouth. “Who said that?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. Was it Maggie?”
He frowned. “If it’s not true, why would it matter?”
Her lips snapped together and she scanned the room, but he could tell she wasn’t really looking for anyone. And when she glanced back at him, there was resolve in her eyes. “Do you think about our kiss often?”
The hell kind of a question was that? “No. Why?”
Her jaw clenched. “I felt something.”
He didn’t move. Not a single muscle. Because her words felt like a ton of bricks dropping onto his chest. “What?”
“I felt something. And dammit, I don’t know. I thought maybe if I gave you time…”
“Jay—”
“We’ve been friends for years! We get along so well. We know each other better than anyone else. I know every one of your quirks. I know that you love pasta, but you have to order it in because you overcook it so it turns into a sloppy mess. I know that you tap your fingers on the closest surface when you’re overthinking something. I know every one of your silences. When you’re happy. When you’re in pain. When you’reso fucking angry you want to hit someone. And I know that you look out for the people you care about.”
“I love Maggie.”
She stepped closer. “But that’s the thing! You never really gave me a chance because you never lethergo. You carried her with you everywhere, even though she cut you out and walked away without a backward glance. You never letusbe a possibility.”
“I don’t?—”
“Ido. Tell me you feel nothing when I do this.” She rose to her toes and kissed him.
25
Maggie pulled into the parking lot of Trap, a hum in her ears. It was this intoxicating mix of nerves and excitement that had been there since she’d made the decision to surprise Ethan tonight.
Polly was right. This would be good for her. She’d walk into the bar, spend the night with Ethan, Jay, and the guys, and everything would feel normal. There’d be no strange glances from Jay to Ethan. No weird energy. Because that was all in her head. And she wasn’t an insecure twenty-two-year-old anymore. She was a confident woman who knew that Ethan loved her.
She climbed out of the RAV4, the cool evening air brushing over her skin as she crossed the parking lot.
A part of her wanted to blame her aunt for her insecurities. But it wasn’t her aunt’s fault. Not anymore. She was an adult now. She’d had years to retrain her mind into understanding that it wasn’t always about being the prettiest or smartest woman in the room. Confidence was a feeling. It lived inside a person, but only if you let it. And she was choosing confidence. She was choosing to believe in her worth.
She stepped into the bar to find it so busy there was barely a path through.
Good God, this bar had a hold on this town.
