by Zoe York
“What are you doing?”
I dropped the hangers, smashed my skirt against my legs and whirled around. The hangers fell back into the sewer, taking my bra and panties with it.
Jake stood behind me, his thumbs looped through his belt loops.
Capturing my skirt between my thighs to prevent any further flashing episodes, I peered into the darkness. “I almost had them.”
“Almost had what?” Jake stepped to my side. “I saw you standing out here playing with the sewer grate and thought you might need help.”
“I don’t want your help.” If only I had my car keys, I could make a dramatic exit to further prove my point. But seeing as how I was stuck in his apartment parking lot with no keys, and now no bra or panties either, my options seemed severely limited. Why me? Wasn’t it humiliating enough that he’d flat out rejected me? Now he had to catch me bare-assed trying to dig my keys out of the sewer?
“What’s in the storm drain?”
“I said I don’t want your help.” I stuck my lower lip out in a pout. Everything I’d tried so far had backfired. My confidence was blown, my belief in true love was shot to hell, and I’d been seriously questioning my sex appeal since I’d been left high and dry by the man I loved. I never should have come back.
“Okay then.” He shrugged as he turned toward the sidewalk. “I’ll just leave you to it. Might want to keep your skirt down though. I think some of my neighbors might have captured your antics on their cell phones.”
My face flamed. That’s all I needed. I’d already made an impression on the folks of Swallow Springs with my reappearance. My daddy would drop dead of shame if pictures of my bare bottom started circulating through town.
I let out a deep breath. “My keys fell through the grate, and I was trying to retrieve them, okay?”
“You need some help?”
I clamped my hands around my middle. “I almost had them when you scared the living daylights out of me.”
“More like scared your skirt up, huh?” His lips lifted in a half-smile. “I’m sorry about before…the way we left things. Let me see what I’ve got inside.”
I glanced at my feet. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
As I watched Jake walk back to his apartment, I couldn’t help but wonder about what he’d said before. I’d been ready to give things a shot on my terms. To try a long-distance relationship and see if we could rekindle what we’d had in the past. If I did move back for good, did he mean what he said? What if I left everything I’d worked so hard for in Omaha and it didn’t work out between us? Was I willing to take that risk?
I’d come back to Swallow Springs so confident I was doing the right thing. But as I stood in front of Jake’s apartment, the breeze blowing through my skirt, I felt so unsure about my next step. I wasn’t ready to go back to my parents’ house, and it was too late to take off for home. That only left me with one option, at least for tonight. I’d drown my sorrows, flood them right out of my system. After that, maybe inspiration would strike.
Jake
Misty wouldn’t meet my gaze as she offered me a quick thank you and climbed into her car. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the way things had gone down between us. Her self-confidence had most likely been shattered this evening when I’d turned her down. But I meant what I said. I didn’t want to be her hometown booty call. If she wanted me back, it would have to be on my terms.
The way we left it though, with her tucking tail and taking off with her undies in hand, didn’t give me much hope for a positive resolution. Most likely she’d head back to Omaha where she’d realize she’d just been feeling a little nostalgic, and I’d get back to living my life full of regret for not taking a chance when I had the opportunity.
I sighed. Tonight was supposed to be all about getting a free steak dinner and rubbing in my big win. Instead it had turned into one of the worst nights of my life. At least I still had some pizza to take my mind off things.
With nothing better to do than plop my ass on the couch and finish watching the cheesy chick flick we’d started, I settled in for a night of pizza and pathetic pining. Before I realized it, I’d been sucked right into the plot. A gal moved away to the big city not realizing how much she’d miss her hometown roots and her hometown honey. This movie could have been based on me and Misty. Except for the fact the main character had been pregnant when she left and had to come back to tell the guy she was having his baby. Thank goodness that wasn’t a factor in Misty’s attempt at reconciliation.
But what stuck with me was that the gal really thought she’d have everything she wanted when she moved away. And once she had it, she realized it wasn’t what she wanted at all. The parallel to our relationship couldn’t have been more obvious. Although, I had to admit, the heat between us was a hell of a lot hotter than the hand holding and hugs that went on between the couple on the screen.
I hated to think that it took a cheesy chick flick to make me realize what Misty had been telling me might be the truth. But there it was. By the time the credits rolled, I found myself wiping a potential tear away from the corner of my eye. Although, it was probably just a piece of dust or something else irritating my contact.
Now what? I’d run Misty off, turned her down in a most vulnerable moment and deprived myself of the kind of loving I’d been dreaming about since she left. Maybe I’d been too quick to shoot down her attempts at a reconciliation. Maybe I should have at least heard her out. Maybe I could have let us have one night together before we decided where we wanted to take things.
As I digested the rest of the pizza along with my thoughts about where we’d gone wrong, my cell rang. Robbie.
“Yo, what’s up?” I didn’t feel much like talking but he didn’t typically waste effort on phone calls unless it was something important.
“Where are you?”
“Hanging out at my place, why?”
“You alone?”
A half-laugh, half-snort escaped. “Yeah.”
“Your girlfriend is five sheets to the wind down at the Dive Inn. Thought maybe you’d like to come pick her up.”
“Whoa. I’m assuming it’s Misty you’re talking about.”
“The one and only.”
“Well, in case you haven’t heard, she dumped me quite a while back. I think it’s safe to say she’s not my girlfriend anymore.” I cleared my throat. “And after tonight, I’m not sure she’s still even speaking to me.”
“I suppose I can call her mom or dad to come peel her off her barstool instead.”
Groaning, I ran a hand through my hair. Misty’s parents weren’t the kind of folks to bring into a situation like that. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
“She’s about to climb onto the bar. Better make it ten.”
I hung up and snagged my keys off the kitchen counter. Ready or not, I was about to have my third run-in of the day with Misty Greene.
Misty
I nursed my latest fruity concoction while manning my stool at the bar. Robbie sat next to me, putting a major damper on what was supposed to be my night of not giving a flip. After Jake’s rejection, I had no plans except to eradicate him from my system. Whether that meant consuming unnatural amounts of alcohol, finding a sweet-talking Southern boy to take my mind off him, or passing out on the bar in front of me, I was committed to doing what it would take to force any last thoughts of him out of my head.
But thanks to Robbie Jordan, all of my efforts had been thwarted. Except the alcohol. That part was going swimmingly well. So swimmingly that I actually felt like my insides had been replaced by a sloshy combination of coconut rum and pineapple juice.
“You sure you don’t want me to run you home?” Robbie asked for the umpteenth time.
“Still a hard no to that. I’ll go when I’m good and ready.” I stirred my drink with my straw and took another long draw. Nothing good would come from tonight. It would be in my best interest to give up and retreat to my parents’ house, then skulk back
to Omaha tomorrow. But I wasn’t used to losing. Once I made my mind up about something, I usually got what I wanted.
That’s what made tonight such a bittersweet loss. Not only did I know deep down in my heart that Jake and I belonged together, but I also had literally thrown my naked self at the man and he’d flat out rejected me.
“You ever strike out so hard you wanted to quit altogether?” I swiveled to face Robbie on my stool.
He took a sip of his ice water. “I’ve struck out plenty of times, but I’ve never thought about quitting baseball. It’s in my blood.”
“But what if every single time you stepped up to bat you struck out? Like you knew no matter how hard you tried, how hard you swung, or how much heart and soul you put into it, you’d never get a hit?”
“We’re not talking about baseball anymore, are we?”
I squinted at him over the slice of pineapple precariously perched on the rim of my glass. “We weren’t ever talking about baseball.”
“I see. Well,”—he scrubbed a hand over his whiskers—“then yeah, I guess I have struck out so hard I wanted to give up.”
“And did you?”
“For a while. Remember when Cassie and I broke up?” Something passed across his face, making me think he still wasn’t over his childhood sweetie.
“Yeah. You stole my boyfriend for a summer.”
Robbie let out a soft chuckle. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“He spent a lot more time with you that summer than me. Drinking, fishing, doing whatever the hell you guys did to help heal your broken heart.”
“Well, it did heal. I didn’t feel like putting myself out there again for a long time, but I got over her, and you’ll get over Jake. It just takes time.”
I pushed my glass away. “I don’t want time. I don’t want to put myself out there again. I don’t want to get over him.”
“Speaking of…” Robbie slid off his stool and backed up. “Hey, Jake, what are you doing here?”
My head snapped up. I couldn’t even nurse my misery in peace. “Did you call him?” I narrowed my eyes at Robbie.
“I’m just going to leave you two alone. I’m sure you’ve got plenty to catch up on.” Robbie clamped a hand on Jake’s shoulder and leaned close. “Good luck.”
“I heard that.” Crossing one leg over the other, I swiveled back to face the bar. I’d just pretend he wasn’t there. Ignore him and maybe he’d leave me alone.
“Hey.” Jake claimed the stool next to me. “You okay?”
I didn’t say anything, just pulled my glass back in front of me and stirred the melty liquid around with my straw.
“I’m sorry about tonight.”
Sorry wouldn’t cut it, but I didn’t want to waste the breath to tell him that.
Jake scooted closer. “I didn’t mean for things to go the way they did.”
My eyes stayed on the bar. “Which part? The part where you left me naked in your bed? Or the part where I flashed your entire apartment complex?”
“Neither.” His voice went low, all soft and raspy, like it used to right after we’d made love. “You coming back here, damn, it’s thrown me.”
I risked a glance at his face. He looked toward the ceiling like it was hard for him to talk.
“I didn’t mean to throw you. It’s just…”
“What?” His gaze met mine, and he reached for my hand.
“I thought you’d want the same things I do. That’s why I came back. I realized I made a mistake when I let you go, and now I want to fix it.”
He squinted. “It’s been a long time.”
Shrugging, I angled my stool to get a better look at him. “What can I say, I’m stubborn. I don’t like to admit it when I’ve messed up, and I came back to admit it.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing all this time?” he asked.
I nodded. The need to tell him about my recent revelations overwhelmed me. “You’re my one person, my most important person and I want to spend forever with you, and make all those babies and get married, and—”
“Whoa.” He put his hand over my mouth. “Before you say another word, let me take you home. We can talk tomorrow, after we’ve both had a good night’s sleep.”
“Okay,” I mumbled against his palm. Going home with things so unsettled between us wasn’t how I wanted this evening to end. But it was better than how we’d left things when I’d pulled out of his parking lot with my underwear in my hand.
Jake stood first, waiting for me to slide off my stool. Then he followed me out of the bar, his hand providing a steadying influence on my elbow.
And just like that, a tiny glimmer of hope sparked in my heart.
Jake
I hadn’t heard from Misty all morning, although I wasn’t surprised. She was probably still in bed, nursing a humdinger of a hangover, or she’d gotten up early and was sitting in the family pew while her dad preached his weekly sermon to the faithful folks of Swallow Springs.
After the kind of day we’d had yesterday, I figured some time spent apart was in both of our best interests. But before the work week cranked into high gear again, I did want to get some things settled between us. Last night, after I’d dropped her off at her folks’ house, I’d spent a lot of time thinking. If she was for real, and she meant all those things she’d admitted while under the influence of piña coladas, then I’d live with lifelong regret if I didn’t give us a chance.
I didn’t want to take it slow and see how it would go. Before I put my heart on the line, I needed some sort of guarantee that she wouldn’t break it again. We needed to talk.
But first, I’d promised Robbie I’d help out with this afternoon’s fundraiser for the team. He’d arranged for us to bag groceries down at the Piggly Wiggly. Any tips we got would be donated to our cause. So instead of tracking down Misty, I leaned against the checkout lane, waiting for someone to come through so I could cart their purchases out to their car.
“Why’s it so slow?” Robbie crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the lane across from me.
“Could be church is getting out late?” I suggested. Usually the store would be bustling by now with people getting their weekend shopping done. But maybe it would give me a chance to get Robbie’s opinion. “While we have some down time, can I ask you a question?”
He took in a deep breath. “Is it about Misty?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah. Is that a deal breaker?”
“Nah. What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot, so don’t go trying to talk me out of it, okay?”
Robbie shrugged. “How can I talk you out of something when I don’t even know what it is?”
“I think I want to propose.”
My best friend didn’t so much as lift an eyebrow. He stood, frozen like a statue.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, I heard you.”
“And?” I shrugged. Didn’t matter to me whether Robbie agreed. All I needed was an idea on how to implement my plan.
“And what? The two of you go together like peanut butter and jelly.” His shoulders rose and fell in a giant shrug. “The sooner you both realize that, the happier the rest of us will be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I looked at him through squinty eyes.
He clamped a hand on my shoulder. “It means yes. Ask her. Please get it over with.”
“Okay.” I shrugged out of his hold. “How?”
“Hell if I know. What does she like? Roses? Champagne?”
I thought about that for a sec before answering. Misty might look like a big city girl now, but she had a small-town heart. “It doesn’t need to be an expensive gesture, just something memorable. And soon.”
“Why the rush?”
Robbie and I had known each other since birth. Lying to him would be like trying to lie to myself. “I want a guarantee that she means what she says about wanting to get back together. Before I go getting all attached again, I want to
know she’s all in. You think that’s a bad reason?”
“I think it’s inevitable that the two of you are going to end up together whether you propose or not. If you’d rather have that ring on her finger, then I say go for it. In fact, why not do it now? We can come up with something right here in the Piggly Wiggly.” Robbie walked past the registers toward the middle of the store. “We’ll get it all set up then you can call Misty and have her come on down. All you’re missing is a ring.”
“You know, you might be onto something.” I stalked toward the front of the store where a huge display took up most of the entrance. Plastic bottles of soda stacked three feet high around the base. Cans of baked beans formed a giant pyramid in the middle. Everything needed for a cookout including charcoal, paper plates, hamburger and hot dog buns, bags of potato chips and a huge bin of watermelons sat around the perimeter.
“What are you thinking?” Robbie asked. “You going to pop the question in front of a potato chip display?
“Better than that. I’ll do it here. I’m going to spell out ‘Will You Marry Me’ in canned goods. I’ve still got the ring I proposed to her with the first time in my car. We both worked here for a bit in high school, remember?”
“I remember you getting fired for making out in the walk-in cooler.” Robbie shook his head. “What was that, day three?”
I tried to remember. We’d actually made out in the cooler on day one, but I didn’t think we got fired until almost a week in. “Doesn’t matter. It’s shared history. Now, are you going to help me set this up or not?”
Robbie shrugged. “Let’s get to it.”
I clenched my hand into a fist and raised it for a fist bump. This was happening, really happening. If Misty wasn’t playing for keeps, I’d be calling her bluff. But if she was…my heart swelled at the thought. If she meant what she’d said, then this was going to go down in history as one of the most memorable days of my life.
Jake