He groaned, and I laughed harder.
“More like fifteen years ago.” His voice was wryly amused. “As Coach reminded me tonight—yes, he was at the diner, too—it was the closest Sierra Rose Ridge made it to winning the state championship.”
My sides ached from laughing, and I was more relaxed than I’d been in months. Years, maybe. I didn’t realize how much I missed Jake. Nobody got me like he did.
When I first got my scholarship to the university, we planned to go together. His dad put the kibosh on that. Jake swore we’d stay best friends forever.
We talked all the time in the beginning. Then he dated Katelyn, we fought, and we never found our equilibrium again. When he joined the army, and I got a full-time job in the city, our infrequent calls and texts stopped entirely.
“Enough about me,” he said. “What’s new with you?”
I groaned.
“You caught me at a bad time. Things are in upheaval.”
“Yeah, I figured that if you’re sitting on your parents’ doorstep at midnight. I’m a good listener.”
My lips curved up.
“You always were. Do you remember when I had that stupid crush on Brady Bonds in tenth grade? I thought he was my soul mate, and it turned out he was screwing half the cheerleaders and some of the girls on the basketball team.”
His disgusted groan delighted me.
“You always had the worst taste. I swear, I could line up dozens of guys, and you’d pick the ones most likely to lie, cheat, or steal from you every single time.”
Well. My attempt at distracting him from the details of my messy life failed. My shoulders slumped, and I groaned.
“It turns out some things don’t get better with age.”
My light-hearted voice failed to hide my sadness, and I was again grateful for the darkness. He put his arm around me and hugged me briefly.
“Dani Girl, I’m sorry I said anything. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We can be sadand lonely together.”
A watery laugh escaped me, and I agreed. He told light-hearted memories of the sandbox, though I had no doubt there were more stressful events he didn’t share. I entertained him with adventures in bartending. Both of us carefully avoided any mention of relationships.
By the time a yawn split my jaw, we’d been talking for hours in the dark. My ass hurt from sitting on the wooden porch for so long. My mother would chide me tomorrow for not inviting him inside, but there was something magical about Jake, me, and the stars.
“You should sleep,” he said.
Before I could protest, another yawn overcame me.
“Yeah, it’s been a long day,” I said with a sheepish smile.
His teeth gleamed again in the darkness, and pride filled my heart. His step was lighter than the man I saw earlier tonight. It was true for me, too. Having Jake back made everything brighter.
“It sucks you’re having a shit time, but I’m glad it led you out here tonight.”
“Thanks, Jake. I’m glad, too.”
I worked all morning on the web design changes from Mr. Ramirez. By the time I got to the Tavern, I already had an excited response. He loved my ideas. I itched to get to work on it right away, but instead I clocked in at my reliable job with a steady paycheck.
The shift went quickly. My favorite co-worker, Neil, cracked me up all night. He moved here a few years earlier with a long-forgotten boyfriendwho was from Sierra Rose Ridge. After the split, the boyfriend left, and we kept Neil.
Neil’s favorite past-time was inventing wild histories for people based on no information. After seeing Jake at the diner, Neil spun the wildest stories about how my old friend spent the last decade.
“You should be an author since you have such a wild imagination,” I teased.
“No, thanks. I like getting paid for my work. Now tell me the real reason you never dated that delicious man?”
