I sit up and pack Tanner’s things back in the diaper bag.My phone vibrates another time, this time with a text message.
Decker: Come down to Peeper’s.
Thanks, but I’m going to the food truck festival with Hadley and Tanner.
We have a surprise.We can all go after.
Do I want to hang out with all my friends right now?No.But I also can’t take the chance that what just happened will happen again.Maybe it’s best if we hang out with our friends for the day.I clearly can’t trust myself with her.
“Ready?”Hadley asks from across the room, her bag packed and Tanner already in his stroller.
She seems to be on the same page.
“The gang wants us to stop at Peeper’s.”
“Okay,” she agrees easily, and that’s all the answer I need.
Kissing is off the table for us.Which is good.
Okay, not good, but it’s the right decision.
ChapterThirty
Hadley
The walk from The Story Jar is quiet, our almost kiss hanging awkwardly in the space between us.We should talk about the tension that’s been filling the rooms lately, but isn’t the whole reason we’ve made things work because we don’t do the whole feelings thing?
Once we reach Peeper’s, I stop Easton before we go inside to spend the afternoon with friends, where we’ll be separated more than we’re together.
“Easton.”I place my hand on his, on top of the stroller.
He stops and nods.“We’re good.”
“Are we?”
He smiles, and it’s not his full-wattage smile, but it’s genuine.“Yeah.It’s gonna happen, right?We’re used to hooking up.It’s just a habit.”
I nod, wishing I could believe him, but things are changing in ways I didn’t anticipate, and I’m not sure he did either.“Okay.If you say so.”
I reach around him and open the door so he can wheel in the stroller.
I’ve been to Peeper’s just once looking for Easton, but since moving in, I haven’t gotten a chance to come down here—mostly because I’m primarily with Tanner.I’ve heard the other women talking about Ruby and what she’s like, so I’m not surprised when she doesn’t come out from behind the counter to greet us.
“Just so you know,” Easton mutters beside me, pushing Tanner’s stroller inside, “Ruby’s not talking to me.”
I don’t look at him.“What did you do?”
He exhales.“I haven’t been in here lately, and she heard about us from someone else.”
Tanner kicks his legs, letting out a happy squeal, completely unbothered.
“Just… let me do the talking,” Easton adds.
I glance at him.“That feels like a terrible idea.You already upset her.”
Ruby doesn’t look up from behind the bar, where she’s polishing a glass.She doesn’t acknowledge either of us as we stop at the edge of the bar.
Easton clears his throat.“Ruby?—”
