35. Bailey
thirty-five
Bailey
The last half of senior year flies by. Nat is set to graduate at the top of our class, which comes as no surprise. I grab my keys and head out the door to meet her and Liam at the café down the street from campus.
It’s been a few weeks since we had time to get together so missing this is not optional. She would have my head on a stick. A pink glittery stick, but a stick nonetheless. The thought makes me chuckle. I glance around the parking lot to make sure no one can see me laughing at absolutely nothing.
Sweet—empty. Thank fuck.
The café is busy, but I spot Liam at a table toward the back, grateful he had the forethought to get here before the rush. “Hey man,” I say as I flop into the booth. He smiles and gives me the bro nod before looking back down at his phone. Probably texting some girl. Unbelievable.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee and sweet pastries settles and my stomach growls. Do I want breakfast food or breakfast food? I could probably consume the entire left side of the menu if I’m being honest. I’m famished. Not really, but I’m fucking starving, okay?
I catch sight of two familiar faces in my periphery. Jay and Lolly are sitting in a corner booth on the other side of the restaurant.
Shit.
I wave politely as my cheeks heat. Memories of that last day with him threaten to surface. I refuse. Unwilling to entertain them.
Lolly smiles, nodding in my direction. Lumberjack, I mean Jay, glares in a way that could make a nun cuss.
I shiver then bring my gaze to our tabletop.
I look up from the table when I hear the door chime. Nat is bustling in, purse and phone in hand, hair billowing behind her.
“Hey Nat,” I say, voice unsteady.
She looks at me questioningly.
I scoot over so she can have a seat.
Liam hasn’t even noticed her arrival so it’s safe to assume he won’t be moving any time soon.
Nat glances at him, still wrapped up in whatever the hell he’s doing on his phone and rolls her eyes.
“How are you?” she asks, the deeper meaning behind her question evident in her eyes..
My heart sinks in my chest, begging for an answer I can’t give it. It’s been the longest two months of my life, but it doesn’t fucking matter. It can’t matter.
I Ignore her, eyes stinging.
When she realizes I’m not going to answer she continues, “Okay then. What have you decided about pharmacy school? Where are we going?”
I smile at the notion that she’s planning on following me. Hoping against the odds that the three of us can figure out a way to stay within at least a short distance of each other.
Nat and I recently discussed a local state university that offers a pharmacy program, medical school, and has a school of law a few miles down the road. Liam said that he wasn’t yet sold on that law school, but that he’s seriously considering it because he, too, wants to stay close.
“If Mr. Texty Pants ever gets off his phone I might be able to answer your question,” I quip, nodding in Liam’s direction.
“Sorry guys,” he says sheepishly, locking his phone screen and setting it down on the table for good measure. “I didn’t mean to ignore you. What are we discussing?”
“We’re discussing,” Nat says, her tone teasing, “where the three of us are going to spend the next few years of our lives. Nothing serious, just our literal futures.” She grins, brown eyes sparkling, subtly letting Liam know he’s off the hook.
“Have you decided which law school you’re heading to?” she asks, peering over her coffee mug at him.
Liam clears his throat as we both stare at him blankly. Waiting.
“Um, I-uh, I’m going to Bowman,” he says, voice barely audible. My head spins to face Nat just in time to see her launch up out of the booth and reach across the table, squealing and hugging Liam’s neck.
“Oh my fucking god Liam! Thank you!” She screams.
Pressure builds behind my eyes again. I blink rapidly, trying to stave off the threat. Thank fuck.
Nat has spent countless hours working out a way for us to remain within reasonable proximity of each other for the next four years. I was happy to oblige, but Liam was torn between the local law school and a prestigious one more than a five-hour drive from where she and I would be.
His absence would have been astronomical. I wipe my eyes with the back of my sleeve nonchalantly.
Nat joins me back on our side of the table and gives me a squeeze.
“You too, Bays. Thank you for sticking around. I know you could have gone anywhere but are choosing to stay here with me, and I could never truly express how much it means to me. Both of you,” she says, eyes bright with unapologetic love.
“We’re not going anywhere, Nat. You’re stuck with us,” I say, bumping her shoulder with mine while Liam fumbles with the menu he’s had memorized since freshman year.
Maybe his eyes were threatening to water too.
“How’s your dad, Bays?” Liam asks.
“He’s doing great, man. He got lucky.”
“I’m glad he’s feeling better,” Nat says as she puts a warm hand on my back, steadying me.
I’m settling into comfortable conversation with Nat and Liam when the air in the room shifts. Calm but electric. An anxious awareness hits me and I feel him before I see him.
The same searing warmth on the side of my face I experienced at the concert. Like my body’s tuned to a frequency I’m not ready to acknowledge.
“Hey,” a familiar voice says.
Fuck. Me. Running.
I bring my gaze to meet his—Lolly.
Oliver.
He’s even more beautiful than I remember. Better. More believable but still almost ethereal.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he says, eyes surveying the three of us quickly before settling on mine again.
Do. Not. Blush.
Jay leans lazily against the booth.
God, he’s enormous.
“Hey Liam,” he says. He gestures to his left. “You guys remember Oliver, right?” He catches my gaze, a glint of disdain crossing his face before he plasters his smile back in place.
“Of course,” Nat says easily, giving nothing away. “Good to see you again.”
I nod in agreement. A completely normal, well-adjusted nod of someone that has never had this man’s dick in his ass.
The three of them fall into easy conversation. Distracted.
Lolly saunters over to my side of the booth, unhurried but deliberate in his movements.
My heart pounds in my chest as the room becomes smaller and air becomes more difficult to breathe.
“How hard have you had to work to avoid me?”
His eyes dance between playfulness and brokenness but he smiles half-heartedly. Like he can sense the existential crisis happening between my ears.
“I wasn’t. I didn’t.” I cut myself off, my words tangling together before I can turn them into anything resembling some form of truth.
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, green eyes.”
My chest tightens. A feeling I can’t afford to acknowledge stirs an unwelcome warmth deep in my belly.
Cool it, Bays. Act fucking natural.
I clear my throat and force out a laugh. Hell, it comes out more like a choke but it’s the best I could do.
Memories of that last night claw their way up my throat. His mouth, his hands. Nope.
I push them back down.
Not safe.
Not here. Not now. Not ever.
Lumberjack is wrapping up his conversation with Nat and Liam, finishing up whatever the hell he was saying and slaps Lolly on the shoulder.
“Let’s roll.”
Lolly doesn’t move to leave right away. Instead, his gaze finds mine one more time.
“I’ll see you around, Bailey.”
No underlying question, just a statement. Not if, or when.
It didn’t sound like a probability. It was a promise.