got his hair cut every three weeks and spent a small fortune on hair products and custom-tailored Oxford shirts to fit his narrow frame. His only hobby was golf. Talk about a snooze fest.
High school me would have—and probably had—referred to him as a pretty boy. He was soft and smooth. Nice guy, but a schmoozer. And I couldn’t imagine someone like Marley ending up with someone like him. She’d be bored to tears within a week.
“Are you forgetting the fact that I dumped him in high school for you?” she hissed.
“You did not,” I argued. “You broke up with him because you were bored to death.”
“Just shut up and stop looking at him—them. Oh, God. Here they come. They’re coming over!”
I squeezed her hand. “Chill out. You’re here with me, your boyfriend, remember?”
She straightened. “Right. Okay. Good. I forgot.”
She forgot she was dating me. That was a kick to the ol’ ego.
“Well, don’t you two look cozy?” Amie Jo cooed. She reeled Travis in and tucked herself under his arm, painting a picture of a happy couple right in front of us.
“Hey there, Hostetters,” I said, giving Marley’s hand a hard squeeze.
She snapped out of the deer in headlights expression and pasted on a smile as phony as Amie Jo’s tone.
“Travis, you remember Marley from high school, right?” his wife asked. Judging by his expression, he definitely remembered.
“It’s good to see you again, Marley,” he said pleasantly. “I heard you were back in town.”
“Uh. Hi. Yeah, I’m back for a little while,” she said, the words coming out in a rush. “I, um, I like your swan.”
I shot her a WTF look, and her eyeballs went half-dollar sized.
“Isn’t he just divine?” Amie Jo asked, laying a possessive hand on Travis’s stomach. “I saw Lady Gaga had swans at her Hamptons estate and just had to have one. Travis made it happen. He spoils me! Isn’t that right, sweetie?”
“Aren’t swans supposed to have a mate?” Marley asked suddenly. “I mean, don’t they get lonely when there’s just one of them?”
I slid off my stool and pulled Marley to her feet. “Well, we’ll leave you two to your dinner. We’ve got some private dessert plans,” I said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. “Great seeing you, Travis.”
Pulling Marley behind me, I wove my way through the high-top tables to the front door. In seconds, we were outside, and Marley breathed a sigh of relief.
“I like your swan?” I said when we were halfway down the block.
She covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God. I really said it? I didn’t know what to say to him! I haven’t seen him since high school graduation. He didn’t speak to me after Homecoming. After that whole broken leg thing.”
“Are you still into him?”
“No! I don’t know! I don’t think so. I broke up with him, remember?”
“Yeah, and one look at him at Smitty’s, and you’re wondering if you’d be in Amie Jo’s shoes if you hadn’t dumped his ass.” I didn’t like that it annoyed me.
“I’d never wear those shoes,” she quipped. “I’d spend more time falling down than walking.”
“Be honest. You didn’t see those two together and wonder?”
“Isn’t that natural?” she dodged the question.
I slid my arm around her shoulders and guided her toward my SUV.
“How the hell should I know?”
“Haven’t you ever run into an ex-sex partner and wondered what it would be like if you were still with them?”
“Nope.”
“God, this is why I never showed my face in town after graduation,” Marley complained. “It’s like holding up a mirror to every single mistake I ever made.”
“Like breaking up with Travis?”
“You sound mad,” she said, looking up at me with a frown.
“Mad? Ha. I’m not mad.” I was totally mad. Illogically mad.
“Annoyed? Irked? Filled with rage?”
“Are you supposed to make a guy feel like second fiddle on a first date?” I asked.
She opened her mouth and then closed it. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, ouch.”
She winced. “Okay. That’s fair. If this were a real date, I’d definitely owe you an apology.”
“Why don’t you demonstrate one for me right now so I’ll know the real thing when it comes along?” We were in front of the library, a squat, yellow brick building that also housed the police department. My car was just a few spots down, but I pulled her to a stop.
“Fine. Jake?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for making you feel like second fiddle. It wasn’t my intention, and I was just kind of shocked to see him tonight. I wasn’t mentally prepared to face the past when