“Or won’t?”
“I’ve been pulling twelve-hour days.”
“Not even for one beer?”
“My van’s out the back. So, no. You know I don’t drink if my keys are anywhere near me.”
“It’s one beer.”
“And that’s too fucking many!”
Austin’s eyes widen, then he nods. “I know, man. I just miss you guys. And I’m sorry it took this to happen for me to haul my ass in here.”
I scratch my scalp with both hands. “I’m sorry, too… There’s still so much shit flying all around me. Just wait till it settles. Maybe after Thanksgiving.”
Austin holds out his hand. “You can call me whenever you want.”
I shake it again. “I won’t.”
“I know.” With a warm smile he steps backwards towards the door, but as he reaches out for the handle, it pushes itself open. “Well, fuck me.”
“Hi, Austin.” The voice is low, and sarcastic.
“Is that any way to greet me?”
“I didn’t come here to see you.” Barely five foot tall, Anaise—another local who never managed to leave Broadrock for long—cocks her hip to the side and looks up at Austin.
“But now that you have, is there anything you’d like to say?”
“No.” Her response is blunt, and I laugh as Austin claps his hands over his heart like she just shot an arrow straight through him.
“You know rejecting me only makes me want you more?”
Still holding the door, Anaise opens it further. “Your loneliness is not my problem.”
“You know I don’t believe in that manosphere bullshit.”
“Good. Cause I wouldn’t talk to you at all if you did.”
Austin drops the act and takes the door from Anaise. “Any chanceyoufeel like going for a drink tonight?”
“No,” she rejects him again and steps towards me. “I came here to see Tek, then I’m out in Daintree with my grandparents until after Thanksgiving.”
Austin makes eye contact with me and mouths, “Lucky man,” before showing himself out.
I smile down at Anaise. “D’you think you’ll ever give in to him?”
She wraps her arms around my middle and I rub her back with my right hand.
“Please. We’d have nothing to talk about if I did. Him pretending to like me and me turning him down is the only kind of interaction we’ve had since high school.”
“Are you sure he’s pretending?”
“Stop delaying the inevitable,” Anaise says kindly, holding my face in her hands.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She squishes my cheeks together. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
