I want to see her again,rules be damned.
Dylan nudges me, pulling me out of my thoughts. “This isn’t you, bro. You’ve been out of it all night and I need a wingman—or hell, a conversation will do at this point.”
I force a smile, not wanting to dive into it right now. “Yeah, just ...thinking.”
He raises a quizzical eyebrow. “About her?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
Dylan shakes his head, chuckling. “Shit, she really did a number on you, huh?”
I laugh, but it’s forced. “You have no idea.”
Dylan takes one look at my face and shakes his head, pushing his thick-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Alright, we need a change of subject. You’re getting that faraway, sappy look again.”
I roll my eyes, despite being grateful for the distraction. “I don’t have a‘sappy look.’”
“Yes, you fuckin’ do,” he counters, a grin playing on his lips. “It’s the same one you had when you were crushing on Tamara back in high school. Remember? It was when you went through your vegan phase and you found out she was one, too.”
I burst out laughing at the memory, shaking my head. “Okay, okay, maybe you have a point.”
Dylan’s grin widens, and he leans back on his bar stool, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “So, speaking of vegan disasters, do you remember Melissa?”
“The yoga instructor who tried to cleanse your aura with a bundle of sage?” I snicker into my beer bottle.
“That’s the one!” he exclaims, his dark eyes lighting up. “Well, she came into the coffee shop yesterday.”
“Oh, yeah?” I quirk an eyebrow, my lips sliding into a smirk.
He nods. “She brought her pet ferret.On a leash.”
I stare at him. “She has a pet ferret? And she brought it into the coffee shop?”
Dylan nods, his curly hair bouncing with the movement. “Yup. And you know what she named it?”
I shake my head, not sure I want to know.
“Chakra,”he says, matter-of-factly.
“Of course she did,” I say between laughs. “Only you, Dylan. Only you could attract someone like that.”
He grins, shrugging nonchalantly. “What can I say? I’m a magnet for the wild ones.”
I take another sip of my beer, the laughter fading as I look at my best friend. “Hey, Dyl … You ever think about settling down? You know, finding someone ...normal?”
Dylan raises an eyebrow, his gaze turning thoughtful. “Normal’s overrated. But yeah, I think about it sometimes. Not evenIcan have epic, mind-melding hook-upseveryday.”
“Have you ever?” I roll my eyes, but I can feel the smirk tugging at my lips.
He nods vigorously. “Oh, yeah. All the time.”
“Shut up,” I fire back, shaking my head.
He chuckles, raising the new beer Brian slid across the bar to him in a toast. “To the wild ones and the sappy looks they give us.”
I can’t help but laugh, clinking my bottle against his glass. “To the wild ones.”
As we drink, the weight on my chest lightens, and the image of the redhead fades to the back of my mind.