“See.” Jimmy held his hands out as if my response was evidence of Hank-like behavior. “Look, I like Reagan, but I heard that she was engaged before she moved here. Maybe you were a rebound?”
“Is that what you came here to tell me?”
“Nah.” He crossed his arms, lounging against the railing as he watched me clean up the patio. “I just wanted to see for myself if you really were being a miserable bastard. Mission accomplished, I guess.”
“Goodnight, Jimmy.” I said as I walked past him back into the bar to close up.
“Night, Grumpy.” He gave me a quick salute, pushed off the railing, and hopped off the deck. As he headed around back to where his truck was parked, he whistled the song the seven dwarfs did in the Snow White movie.
Dumbass.
As I cashed out the remaining patrons and finished closing up, I did my best not to let what Jimmy said get under my skin. Was I just a rebound to Reagan? It was possible.
And worse, was I turning into my older brother? For so long, I’d skated through life on autopilot in the feelings department. Now, as soon as I tried to engage, I got moody as fuck because a girl that I thought I might be in love with was ignoring me?
No. This was ridiculous. I wasn’t going to be that guy. I wasn’t going to end up like Hank, who wouldn’t crack a smile if he won the lottery. Or worse, like my Pop, who never recovered from losing my mama.
If things with Reagan were meant to be, they would be. I didn’t believe in curses, hell, I wasn’t even sure I believed in love.
But I did believe in what I felt when I was around Reagan and what she felt for me. If that wasn’t real, I didn’t know what was.
CHAPTER 42
Reagan
“Five a.m. In the morning.”
“I know, Nadia. Believe me. I know.” I yawned.
“I mean…I don’t even know which one of those words to emphasize more, five or morning. Both of them are equally horrifying.”
“I’m well aware.”
“Reagan, my parents were dead set on one thing for my future. I was either gonna be a doctor or a lawyer. Do you know why I defied them both and chose teacher?”
“Because you wanted to make a difference with the youth of today?”
“It’s too early for humor.”
“It’s never too early for humor,” I countered.
From the glare she gave me, Nadia didn’t appreciate it. “Because the school bell rings at eight a.m.” she said in exasperation.
“I know, and because you’re a teacher, you are on spring break, which means you can take a nap later,” I pointed out.
“But you can’t. How are you this awake?”
“You know I wake up at the same time every morning.”
“Still?” she asked.
It was a phenomenon that she’d been intrigued by when we’d shared a dorm room in college. Every day, no matter what, I woke up at five twelve in the morning. Which meant, technically, I would’ve been able to get a little bit more sleep this morning if I’d wanted to, but not much. Not that it would’ve mattered.
The truth was, the second I closed my eyes, all I could see was Billy and Daisy having sex in the supply closet. It’s been three days since I found out about the hookup and for some inexplicable reason; I couldn’t seem to get over it.
Billy had called and texted. He’d even showed up at Mrs. B’s with flowers and I’d pretended not to be there. I just couldn’t bring myself to face him. On Saturday I was supposed to be moving into the house he’d shown me, and I was coming up with excuses not to.
I was being ridiculous. I knew that. He hadn’t done anything wrong. We were not in any sort of relationship. Not now, and certainly not in the hour before we’d even met!
I had no idea why I felt so betrayed. It was strange that I was honestly more upset about Billy hooking up with Daisy than I’d been when I’d walked in on Blaine.
It made zero sense.
“It’s too early,” Nadia whined as her head fell back against the headrest. “Why in the hell am I in a car with you at this ungodly hour, driving out to Harlan Mitchell’s place to work out?” She said the phrase like it was a bad word.