Chapter Six
“O w! Shit! ”
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry.”
Dex rubbed his throbbing jawline as he jerked to his full height to avoid any further collisions with the petite woman. Truly, no good deed ever went unpunished. This didn’t help with his already grumpy mood, a mood that had been consistently bad for three straight months at this point.
It was scorchingly hot today, and he didn’t want to deal with the public, especially when the public was stubborn, didn’t follow basic directions, and had dark curly strands that kept brushing against her pinkening cheeks.
“I didn’t crack any of your teeth, did I?” She looked at him with such genuine concern he felt bad about getting annoyed with her earlier... but she shouldn’t have been off trail.
“Are they all still there?” He revealed his teeth in a wide grimace and was pleased to see the corners of her eyes squint in amusement as she stepped closer to inspect.
“Good news. You still have a full set.”
At this distance, he couldn’t help surveying her features to take in the details. There was something familiar about her. He couldn’t quite place it, and it was driving him kind of wild not knowing.
Her hair was nearly black, except for some warm brown strands mixed in, giving it added depth. Her hair also wasn’t long, based on the curly strands escaping her hair tie. Maybe it was chin length? Her shoulders were exposed, her skin a light brown glow. The center of her hairline came to a subtle V-shape at the top of her forehead, giving her face a heart-shaped impression, especially with a delicate, narrow chin.
Her mouth was mesmerizing, the top lip nearly as full and lush as the bottom. Dark-brown eyes were framed by gorgeous long lashes and paired with strong, striking eyebrows. While her left ear had a single small earring, the right one had at least three silver studs. He also noticed, while they were searching, there was a simple tattoo on the inside of her right wrist, three small circles lined in a row.
A scent of spicy sage and citrus hit his nose, a smell he felt he’d been missing since... it was there on the tip of his brain. “Selah?”
She froze, a pink blush sweeping across her skin.
“Oh my God. Captain Selah?” It was her. Sure, she’d look different from the last time he’d seen her. With her face and hair completely uncovered, he could see she was... well, she was cute and, also, definitely cooler than him.
“You can just call me Selah,” she responded quietly.
He had a moment of absolute satisfaction at solving the mystery but, with this knowledge came the rush of memories from his failed proposal. Because he couldn’t remember Selah without also being reminded of the absolute rejection he’d experienced in her presence. The humiliation was a constant stab to his gut. And it wasn’t because he was pining over Ava. It was more that he’d been foolish for getting so wrapped up in the idea of marriage and had made the biggest blunder of his life and—
Selah had known.
She had recognized him because, despite her weak attempt at an explanation, she’d called him by name. Maybe his first humiliation she’d witnessed was happenstance and not her fault, but she couldn’t say the same about this time around. She’d let him stand there, looking foolish, pretending he was mistaken in his impression that there was a familiarity between them and—
He was done. He wasn’t doing this again, not with someone who’d continue letting him believe in something that wasn’t true at all, as though he needed to be protected or gaslighted. He wasn’t living in that type of world anymore.
“How’s, um, everything going with you?” Her brow lifted sympathetically, and it made him feel worse. Did she feel sorry for him? His heartbreak probably made for a diverting story to tell passengers on her other trips.
“No. We’re not doing this.”
Her lips stretched into a frown. “But I wasn’t... I’m sorry.”
“Your five minutes are up. Get out of the brush.” He strode away determinedly, returning to the path and away from her. Logically, he knew his aggravation and anger were misdirected, but he’d been holding it all in. He hadn’t had any other place to direct it.
When the van had returned to the farmhouse parking area after the failed proposal, Ava had gotten in her car and disappeared like a ghost. She hadn’t even responded when he called to remind her they had driven together and she had abandoned him without any transportation. He was about to call some kind of car service when Selah’s mom had been nice enough to give him a ride to Smith Rock, where he could bum a ride from one of his coworkers to take him home. He’d never felt so low and humiliated in his life and, for some reason, this moment with Selah was a close second. He couldn’t escape her fast enough.
*
“Are you brooding?” Jon asked later that afternoon.
“No,” Dex lied, because he was brooding as he leaned against a post, staring at nothing in particular and rubbing his jawline. It didn’t hurt anymore, but it was more of a phantom feeling from some past connection. He’d never understood brooding before, but it turned out he was a natural at it.
“There’s a new brewery that opened up in Redmond. Let’s go check it out after work.” His coworker gave him an encouraging slap on the back as though this would snap him from his funk.
“Thanks, but I think I’m just going to go home.” Dex wasn’t in the mood to socialize. Between going out and staying home to brood, the latter one was the more appealing choice.
Except Jon didn’t listen and dragged him out to Bottlecap Brewery, anyway.
“You always rush home. What’s so special about today?” Dex asked as Jon ordered another house IPA.
Dex had never been much of a drinker and when he did drink, it was usually a single beer, but they were in Redmond, near his home. Turns out, brooding and booze went well together. He’d ordered a rum and Coke, drank it quickly, and then ordered another. If he had to socialize, this was the only way he was going to get there. He’d worry about getting home in an Uber later.
“Nothing’s special. One of Steph’s cousins just had an operation, so she went up to Warm Springs to help her, and she took the kids with her.”
“So, you’re living it up while the wife is away?” Dex asked, then took a huge gulp from his glass.
“No. I just don’t like going home to an empty house. It’s lonely and... Hey, man, I’m sorry.” Jon raised his hands, apparently realizing he’d treaded onto a sensitive subject with that statement.
It was reminiscent of their wedding conversation many months before, except it was Dex who had been complaining about an empty house and being lonely. He finished the rest of his drink and ordered another.
“You doing okay?” his friend asked, eyeing the empty glasses in front of Dex.
“Yeah, fine. Why?” There was a short pause before he rambled with, “Do you know I’ve never broken up with a girl?”
“What? Never?”
“Nope, all four of them broke up with me, and I never saw it coming. Not one time. What do you think—” He was about to discuss this further when a glance at the door had him reacting by placing his glass in front of his face, like this was going to provide some type of concealing coverage. His brain, already getting fuzzy from the alcohol, slowly realized this wasn’t going to hide him, and he then made a half-hearted attempt to turn his shoulder as a way to shield his body. “Shit. Did she see me?”
Jon gave him a funny look before turning toward the brewery entrance. “Who? Ava?”
“What? Ava’s here too?” Dex couldn’t think of anything worse than to be confronted with his ex-girlfriend as well as Selah. It’s as if the universe wanted a sequel to the worst moment of his life by bringing back all the previous players.
“Too? Who are we talking about?”
Dex did a quick scan and didn’t see any sign of Ava. At least, there was one bit of good news. He turned to Jon and mouthed Selah.
His friend laughed. “Who?”
He leaned closer and whispered, “Selah.”
“Dex, I don’t know who you’re talking about, man.”
For some reason, his brain found this surprising. “What? You don’t know Selah? How could you not have seen her?”
Dex noticed her as though she walked into the crowded brewery with her own personal spotlight. Her dark curly hair glistened, one side swept up in a sparkly clip. Those mesmerizing full lips were glossy and pink. She wore some kind of dressy emerald-green top and curve-hugging black jeans. Selah, once again, appeared completely different from the previous times he’d seen her, but this time he recognized her straight away. Was she a shapeshifter? A kaleidoscope? Dex wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was almost as though his lack of perception earlier in the day had heightened his senses to such a degree she could have walked into the establishment in a red wig, sunglasses, and trench coat, and he would have known it was her.
He was so focused on Selah, it took him a while to notice the smirking man following behind her, eyes laser-focused on her ass, before seating her at a nearby table. Oh God, was she out on a date? With that guy? Dex’s asshole alarms went off, and she didn’t look thrilled either. Her closed-lip smile, while nice, didn’t appear genuine. Even though she was with someone else, and there was no reason for them to interact, Dex wanted to avoid her. It didn’t seem fair they crossed paths whenever he was at his lowest and, with an empty glass in his hand, this situation was not ideal either.
“I don’t want her to see me.”
Jon motioned with his fingers toward his face. “Psst. Come here. I want to tell you something.”
“Yeah?” Dex leaned closer to the man. Jon was, after all, his very best friend in the world. He wasn’t sure if he knew that. He should really tell him tonight. Jon had always looked out for him and was perfectly right in his advice about Ava.
“If you’re talking about the cute girl in the green shirt, you should probably stop staring at her. Just a hint.” Jon’s dark eyes glittered with humor.
“I’m not staring. I would never stare. Everyone knows that’s rude.”
“Yeah, but see, your head is turned one way, but your eyes keep darting in that direction.”
“They do?” This couldn’t be right. He was sure his very best friend in the whole world was wrong in this particular instance. “Look, you were right about Ava, but I think you’re very wrong here. Let’s both distract ourselves from staring at Selah and get another drink.”
Just as Dex managed to turn toward the bar, determined not to think about Selah anymore, her date stood in the space on the other side of him, ordering two drinks from the bartender. While staring at Selah was definitely off the table, there was no reason he couldn’t give her asshole date a good look. The man had close-cropped hair and wore a black T-shirt reading, Bend over and I’ll show you . This man had a date with someone as pretty as Selah and this was the best thing in his closet he could come up with? It didn’t seem right at all. It was the first time Dex wished that park rangers also had jurisdiction on fashion crimes.
While the man waited for his drinks from the busy bartender, he slid out his phone. There was a text, Hey! Where you at, Big Daddy Sasquatch? to which the man responded, Job going late. I’ll be home later and give you all the beast you can handle, baby. He then switched to some dating app, quickly swiped right on a few profiles, and sent a message to someone that included an attached dick pic. He then slipped the phone into his back pocket to grab the drinks from the bartender and return to his table with Selah.
This confirmed it. The man was a shitbag of the highest degree and potentially had Selah in his clutches. As annoyed as Dex was about his current situation, deep down, he knew she didn’t deserve any of his aggravation. She had been an innocent bystander in the whole failed proposal thing, and maybe she’d felt awkward about their accidental meeting earlier in the day. He had noticed her cheeks flushing but attributed it more to being out on the trail on a hot day. She’d looked pretty. Not that he was in the habit of noticing the attractiveness of park visitors.
Either way, someone pretty like Selah, someone who was able to make him laugh on the worst day of his life, didn’t deserve an asshole date.
Except it wasn’t any of his business and he wasn’t going to stare, and he wasn’t going to notice her anymore, green tops, red wigs, or whatever. It didn’t matter because he wasn’t going to do anything. His best friend in the whole world, Jon, gave him the best advice, and Dex was definitely going to listen this time.