Chapter 8 #2
She rolled her eyes, huffing. “I asked if you saw any lights last night since you closed.”
I was shaking my head before she’d even finished, because denial wasn’t just a river in Egypt; it was also my middle name. “No. I didn’t see anything last night.”
For a split second I wondered why I couldn’t just admit it, but then Kelly made a sound like a squeal, and I nearly gasped.
“Oh my God. Rae-bae, you’re a terrible liar!” She pounced and snatched up my wrists. “You so saw something! What was it?”
“I didn’t…” I tried to dislodge her. She clung like a pair of pink-painted handcuffs.
I slumped, biting back a slew of curses. I was useless at lying. Everyone knew it. The glint of triumph in her eyes said it all.
Something about it made me dig my heels in.
“You have to tell us!” she said, grip tightening. “What did you see?”
I ground my molars. “Nothing.”
A bright light where there shouldn’t be light. Ball lightning. A hot bartender. I glanced Sky’s way again.
He hadn’t moved. He was still watching, arms now uncrossed, hands tucked into his back pockets like he was settling in for the show. Unease twisted in my gut.
Was he hoping I’d spill about what happened last night? About the near-vehicular-manslaughter-meets-UFO-encounter? What part was he waiting on: my recap of his involvement…or what had caused the entire thing?
He obviously hadn’t shared the deets on our late-night rendezvous. Gossip spread like wildfire in this place. If he’d said anything, Kelly would’ve been the first to blab it to the world.
So he’d kept quiet. So far.
Maybe he was just being a nice guy, and the purpose of keeping it on the down-low was to avoid embarrassing me.
Or maybe he was watching now and hoping I’d tell the story myself. Make him look like the hero. Maybe he had some kind of weird modesty complex.
Or maybe I was wildly overthinking everything, and he was just bored and mildly entertained by a prep area full of waitresses hyped up on alien YouTube.
Damn it. I’d stared at him a little too long. Long enough that the girls around me followed my gaze before I could fake disinterest. When Kelly saw who I was looking at, she dropped my forearm and sent me an oh really? look.
He hadn’t looked away, as if he didn’t notice the dreamy looks from the other waitresses.
Or maybe he didn’t care.
He gave me a nod. “Hey, Rae,” he said, quietly but loud enough to cut through the background hum of music and customer chatter.
My lips parted on a soundless inhale. For one golden second, all reason drained away, replaced by a buzz of happiness. He really had remembered my name.
Then I shook myself. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Remembering a person’s name was common courtesy, for God’s sake.
Besides, I was sure I’d left an impression yesterday. Probably not a good one, but enough to stick, it seemed. He’d rescued me off the side of the road, and I’d responded by turning down his phone number.
I wailed inwardly.
Only one way to fix this: rip off the awkward bandage. Get it over with.
On autopilot, I stepped forward, giving Kelly’s shoulder an absent pat on my way past. Sky watched me approach, and my heart played hopscotch in my chest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other girls gawking.
Turning my back on them, I stopped in front of Sky and tipped my head back to meet his gaze.
He angled his chin down, a shadow of scruff roughening the planes of his handsome face.
“Hi.”
“Um. Hi. Hello,” I said, immediately regretting everything. I bit my inner lip and hooked my thumbs into my apron pockets. Why not throw in a howdy while I was at it?
Sky gave me another faint smile.
“Hey,” he said. The tiny grin hitched up higher. “Think we’ve covered most of the standard greetings now.”
Damn it. He’d noticed.
“Yeah, look at that. We did. So…um, funny.” I cleared my throat and shut my mouth before I could say anything else mortifying.
We just…looked at each other. Oasis’s canned music track played a jaguar growl before transitioning into a steel-drum samba interspersed with monkey calls. Somewhere beyond the kitchen’s swinging doors, an incensed Jackie shouted that whoever chopped tomatoes must’ve used a machete to butcher them.
Sky’s mouth twitched like he was trying not to smile even wider—either at the cook’s tirade or because I was still gazing up at him like a lovesick idiot. My cheeks went up in flames. I scrambled for something—anything—to say.
Thankfully, Sky took pity on me and broke eye contact. He shot a glance over my shoulder, where the others still loitered, before running a hand through his thick hair.
“So…you didn’t answer them,” he said, jerking his chin toward the group of waitresses. “You seemed pretty shaken up last night. Any idea what caused you to spin out like that?”
Some of my flustered embarrassment faded away, and I straightened, brow furrowing. He’d already asked me that. In the car. I’d told him I didn’t know.
Unless he hadn’t believed me.
Oh no. Not him, too.
He looked as serious as ever as he studied my face, like he was trying to read something in it.
I folded my arms across my chest, irritation flickering to life. “I already told you last night. It was nothing. I only caught a glimpse. It was an animal or something. Ball lightning.”
“Ball lightning,” he said, his dubious tone making it clear what he thought of my theory.
I pursed my lips, scoffing. “God, Sky. It wasn’t a—” I stopped. I couldn’t bring myself to say spaceship. Not with all the ears around us. But I refused to look away.
His dark eyes held mine. This close, I could see shards of silvery gray and inky black inside the sapphire.
And because I’d already made a mess of things, I went ahead and said what I was thinking.
“I can’t believe you’re falling for this ridiculous conspiracy. Aliens? Really?”
“You said it. Not me.” His hands stayed in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “I just wondered…”
He trailed off as he glanced behind me again. I heard the subtle shuffle of shoes as the rest of the crew drifted closer.
His gaze flitted back to me, and when he spoke next, his voice was significantly more casual. “How are you feeling today? How’s your car?”
The shift in topic caught me off guard.
“My car? Oh. Right.” I rubbed the side of my neck. “I’m fine. It’s fine. My brother said it was the battery.” Toying with the end of my braid, I peeked up at him. “Thanks again. For the ride and everything. You didn’t have to do all that.”
“It was no problem.”
“I mean it.” I transferred my weight from foot to foot. “You really helped me out. I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he repeated, offering a polite smile. His eyes flicked away from mine.
That spark I’d glimpsed earlier faded. He looked…distant now. Guarded. Back to the same cool demeanor he wore behind the bar.
I hated how much that bugged me.
But then I remembered that look from last night—the one he’d given me right after I told him I didn’t want his number. Maybe he was being distant and guarded because I’d come just shy of flipping him off after he’d offered me his digits. It checked out.
Sky opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it, studying the floor. When he looked up again, there were too many thoughts churning in the pensive stare he gave me. I couldn’t decipher a single one.
An even heavier silence stretched between us until I gave up and jabbed a thumb over my shoulder.
“Well, I should go check on my people.” I gestured vaguely behind me, at the mostly empty tables. “My, um, section.”
He eyed me. “Sure. Yeah.” He stepped back toward the bar. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the slow movement was reluctant. “Catch you later, Raven.”
With another ghost of a practiced smile, he turned away, slipped behind the counter, and rounded the corner. He didn’t look back. I frowned after him until he was out of sight. The whole thing left me unsettled.
Why did it feel like he’d had more to say?
I had only a second to process before Emily and Kelly swarmed me.
“Since when are you and Sky friends?” Emily asked, her voice hushed and reverent.
Were we? I glanced back, but he was gone. I didn’t think we qualified as friends. He’d only avoided running me over. That didn’t make us friends…did it?
Kelly zeroed in, her mental wheels clearly turning. “What did you mean, thanks for the ride?”
I sighed. Loudly. “We’re not friends, Em. And it’s nothing. I had some car trouble after work, and he happened to be driving by. He gave me a ride home.”
“Car trouble? Last night?” Kelly’s grin turned predatory. “You mean, during the time the UFOs were spotted?”
“I know where you’re going with this,” I said, grabbing a tray. I turned and headed into the dining room, calling over my shoulder. “And I’m not going there with you.”
“Sure. Just a coincidence, right?” she called after me, her voice dripping smug satisfaction.
But it wasn’t.
I knew it wasn’t.
I just didn’t know what to make of it.