“I don’t know.” Riley reaches for a towel, the extra couple of seconds promising more honesty if I wait them out—and even my impatient ass can manage that. “It’s getting harder to tell where I really want him to be.”
I nod and move half a step back. “Well, when you’re ready to figure it out, you’ve got a lot of us who will jot down the pros and cons for you.”
“Pro: He was the first person to call me Riley. Con: He hasn’t said my name in so fucking long, I’m not sure I remember what it sounds like coming from his mouth.”
My heartbeat trips over its own rhythm, but grabbing a cardboard coaster only takes a second, and there are enough random pens scattered around that it’s easy for me to find one while I catch my breath. I always forget that Riley knew Ethan long before they became a couple, but I'm not interested in their history right now. I flip the coaster over just as Riley begins to protest, my hand up to quiet them as gently as I can.
“You don’t want to do this tonight. I know,” I sigh, clicking the pen and already scribbling. “And I’ll raid V’s office for an entire goddamn whiteboard when it’s time for the rest, but there’s something that can’t wait.”
Riley. There’s someone out there who will understand what a fucking privilege it is to say your name, and he won’t stop long enough for you to forget how beautiful it is.
I hand them the coaster, note side down, and meet an icy blue gaze that’s anything but cold. “You can finish up here and take off whenever you want, but you know I’m not gonna throw you out if you’d rather stick around for a while.”
They kick my shoe again, and I smile in response to their gratitude before we both get back to work. Noah’s gone now, cash left on the bar when nobody would care if he drank for free, and I don’t bother to comment on it when Jake will leave at least as much behind.
“Didn’t feel like taking your new friend home tonight?” Jake asks, looking past me to where Brendan had been sitting. “Seemed like he would’ve waited if you’d asked him to.”
“He would’ve,” I agree. “But neither of us was gonna take it allthe way home. Maybe I’ll find someone tomorrow night.”
“Or the night after that, or the night after that.”
My laugh surprises me, maybe even more so when it leaves Jake biting back something similar. “It’s almost like you’ve been watching me for a while.”
“Almost.”
“And in all that time, you haven’t asked anyone to wait for you.”
It’s too pointed, maybe, when Jake has always kept plenty to himself, but these past several weeks of trivia nights have gifted me with bits of him. Now I’m curious about whether I’m allowed to find out more.
He cooks spicy food.
He wants to go to Greece.
What else do I get to know?
“I won’t ask anyone to wait for me,” Jake says.
“At Trailhead, or anywhere?”
“What’s with the concern? Do I look lonely to you?”
I pull back at that, and Jake picks up his beer, maybe just for something to do while I decide how to answer him. He doesn’t look lonely, and we both know that, but I’m not sure that’s the point he’s trying to make, and I turn another corner.
“What’s your type?”
Jake takes a sip, as calm as he’s ever been. “Are you looking for an ego boost? Want me to tell you how incredibly attractive you are? Do you need me to compliment your smile? Your body? The intelligenceIget to witness each week, but most strangersprobably miss while their mouths are full?”
I don’t answer before I’m interrupted by a guy I once hooked up with at a very, very hot bonfire. He steps up to Noah’s empty stool, and I get his tab closed with my usual charm and an invitation to come back again soon. I notice Riley walk by on their way to our tiny closet of an employee area, and by the time I’ve collected a few more empty glasses and bottles, they’re coming back out with the hoodie and earbuds that drown out the chaos I help create. Our trivia night host is long gone, I think, and only about a dozen people remain scattered elsewhere. The two on the dance floor are on vacation from Arizona. The two shooting pool have been shown the keg room before—separately, not together, though I wouldn’t be opposed to a group tour. Everyone else is some shade of regular here, a few of them dragging stools closer together while they finish drinks they won’t need refilled.
It’s familiar, and I love that I already know how the rest of my night will go.
Except for whatever conversation I’m having with Jake.
He’s standing now, and I ignore the money he’s tucked under his coaster when I lean across the bar. “You’re not lonely. I don’t need an ego boost. I like your brain, too. And I want to know who you’re kissing when you’re not here flirting with me.”
“You say that like you’re not here flirting with me,” Jake murmurs, the music just low enough for me to catch it. He eyes my bare chest, and I wonder for the first time whether his leather jacket would fit me if I took it from him, even if I can’t imagine why I’d try. “Except I guess I get a pretty good look at most of thepeople you kiss.”
I glance in the general direction of the keg room and nod. “Haven’t kissed anyone tonight, just in case you’re keeping count.”