bereft because of it. But she’s right. Guys like me should not let girls like Haley in my bed.
She gets to her feet slowly. Claire comes by and asks if she wants her lunch put on her tab. They have a quiet conversation as I busy myself with checking my nonexistent new text messages. I look up when Haley stands next to me.
“Here’s your coat.” She extends a hand, my jacket dangling from her fist. “Thanks again.”
“No problem.” I take it from her, watching the browns and golds in her eyes swirl together.
There’s something I want to say, but I can’t articulate it. When I don’t say anything more, the light in her eyes dims, and she turns toward the door.
I could stop her if I tried. But I don’t. What good would that do?
CHAPTER TEN
HALEY
The clock on the wall at Mucker’s is shaped like a pizza. Each hour is marked with another topping. The seven is a pepperoni and the time Claire was supposed to meet me here for dinner twenty minutes ago.
I don’t text her, because it’s futile. She never texts me back.
The book in front of me, the one I borrowed from the library this afternoon, promises to make résumé writing easy. It lies—that, or I just have nothing to put on a list of qualifications.
I look up to see Claire’s car pulling in front of the restaurant. She gets out, puts her purse on her shoulder, and starts toward the door. Then stops. She waves before talking with an animation I know means she won’t make it inside for another twenty minutes.
My stomach rumbles. I turn to flag down Alexis to place an order, but when my gaze lands on Claire again, my hand falls to my side.
Trevor is standing next to my friend. He looks freshly showered and shaved. A green pullover hides some of the ridges of his body, and if I could stop looking at his face, I might be annoyed by that.
It’s really disappointing that I didn’t meet him six months ago. Back then, I didn’t care whether I could get on the same page with a guy. I jumped in and hoped for the best. I just had to go and start making sense a bit too soon.
Trevor points toward the building as Claire laughs. She shakes her head and shrugs.
My pulse strums through my veins as I watch them talk like old friends and wish I were out there too. I grip the edges of the table, not sure whether to push back and stand or keep myself in place. The decision is made for me when Claire’s eyes shift from Trevor through the window to me.
She makes a fist and brings it to her mouth. She fakes a cough before sticking out her bottom lip.
“What are you doing?” I mouth.
She fakes another cough. This time, she follows it with a laugh. She says something to Trevor again before climbing back in her car.
“What are you doing?” I ask, even though she can’t hear me. My brows pull together as I watch my friend back out of the parking lot and venture off down the street.
My heart skips a beat at the exact moment the chimes ding on the front door. I don’t have to look to know Trevor walked in. His gaze smacks the side of my face, covering me in a warmth that I didn’t know I was missing. But at least now I know that this will lead absolutely nowhere. Girls like me—naive, willing for the wrong reasons—are a dime a dozen to Trevor Kelly. He made himself very clear earlier today. I’d be his type if I were okay with a one-night or multiple-night stand only. And that’s not me. Not anymore.
He stops at my table.
“Claire said to tell you she was sick and that she’ll call you tomorrow,” he says. He shrugs with a nonchalance that makes me laugh. “She’s also full of shit, but she didn’t ask me to tell you that.”
“I didn’t need you to tell me that to know it.”
“I figured as much.” He takes in the little dining area. “This is even smaller than it looks.”
“Most people sit outside. That,” I say, pointing out the window behind me, “used to be a basketball court.”
“I can see that.”
“It’s a really cool space. That big rock thing in the corner is a giant fireplace,” I say. “They’ll light fires on the weekends and bring out kerosene heaters. It’s fun.”
He grips the back of