I raise my brows. ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’
‘No,’ she says. ‘I mean, I want one. And a good one, you know. Not just an arrangement with a guy who’s never gonna treat me right. You know, like a proper steady boyfriend.’
While she’s talking, my eyes creep upwards toward the table. AJ is staring right at me from the other side. He looks away the moment our eyes meet. I can’t work out if he’s happy to see me, or if he’s indifferent.
‘You got a boyfriend?’ Nicole asks.
‘No,’ I say, and laugh. ‘You know any good ones?’
‘Definitely none round these parts,’ Nicole laughs and rolls her eyes. ‘Me and Reyes used to hook up, but we quit all that.’
A smile dances on my lips. I remember Noah saying something about that on the way to New Mexico. ‘You and Balthazar?’
He looks up when he hears his name. Nicole brings her lips closer to my ear, still shouting over the beat of the music. ‘He’s better in bed than he looks. But seriously? I can’t keep screwin’ around with a guy from high school. What is it the bible says?Now that I am grown, I put away childish things?Anyway, I shouldnotbe goin’ there. I should find me a college frat boy or whatnot.’
‘Do youlikeBalthazar?’
‘That’s not the point! He ain’t never gonna wanna settle for a girl like me. And neither me him. That shit is unhealthy.’
I raise my chin toward the table where Chase is leaning forward, lining up his cue. ‘What about the others?’
‘Single Pringles, honey. All of ’em. AJ don’t really do girlfriends. I mean, they all been linin’ up for years but he ain’t taking the bait. Feels like nobody ain’t ever gonna crack that code.’
‘What about Chase?’
She snorts. ‘He’s a world-class a-hole and all the girls have it figured. Might as well be wearing a goddamned sign.’
That doesn’t sound inaccurate. I raise my eyes to the table. AJ’s looking my way. The same thing happens again when he looks away. I feel my skin tingle.
‘I heard about Mo Mariano,’ I say, without saying how. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘You’re sweet, thank you. It was awful.’
Nicole tells me more details about the funeral before asking if I want another drink.
‘I can go,’ I tell her, getting to my feet.
Before I know it, Nicole has shouted ‘AJ!’ He looks up. ‘Take Hollie to the bar. Ask Nando to get us a round o’ beers.’
Nicole holds out some cash between her fingers toward AJ. He puts down his pool cue and walks over, in no hurry, and I can’t work out what his reaction is to me being here. It’s not what I would call friendly, and maybe he’s trying to act all cool in front of his friends. I know we can’t talk about our road trip, but he could at least be civil.
He swipes the cash from Nicole’s fingers and suddenly I’m dreading walking to the bar with him when he can’t even look me in the eye.
I follow and question why I would have a crush on someone so closed off. This is the AJ that I remember from high school, not the guy from our road trip, and maybe it’s clear now he was only ever nice to me because he needed my help. This is his natural habitat, and I’m the interloper. He elbows people out the way to get to the bar, and I take up position beside him.
I glance his way. He’s leaned his elbows on the surface, trying to catch the barman’s eye. The barman raises his brow, and AJ holds up five fingers. The barman gives him a thumbs up, reaching down into the fridge. A minute later, five bottles of beer are lined up on the bar in front of us, and the barman swiftly pries off each of the metal caps with his opener. With zero conversation, AJ holds up the bills between his fingers. The barman takes them and disappears off to the register. Their lack of communication irritates me.
For a brief moment, I study his profile, and wonder what he’s thinking. Whether he thinks this is as awkward as I do.
‘Echo says I owe you an apology,’ he finally says over the thumping beat of the music. ‘For leaving you behind in Roswell. Said it was no way to treat a lady. So, I apologize for being a jackass and riding off like that.’
His apology catches me off guard. I pick up two of the bottles. ‘It’s fine. Me and my shitty car made it back to Canyon unscathed.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ he says stiffly, and that’s when it hits me. We are not friends. I’m just a person who did something for him once.
‘I didn’t want you to be mad with me…’ I say. ‘That I came here tonight.’
‘Why would I be mad?’
