Veer (Clayton Falls) (6 page)

Molly turned toward me.
“I’m sorry about him. He’s the opposite of a good wine
. H
e gets worse with age.”

Jake glared at her. “As compared to you who—”

“Don’t even think about it
.
” Ben cut Jake off. I thought the brothers might fight, but the tension broke when
Ben laughed.
“Oh, sometimes I can’t stand the love.”
Evidently he was used to their bickering.

I took a minute to really look around the bar. The usual paraphernalia lined the walls
:
neon signs and beer advertisements. It was really just the feel of the place that was foreign. I looked over at the bar and noticed Gavin. I smiled, wondering if his weird reaction
to
me was only because I caught him in a bad mood. Evidently not. He held up his beer in a quasi-greeting before turning away. I shrugged it off. He wasn’t worth the effort. I thought it was weird that Molly had warned me about Jake’s moodiness
,
but she always made Gavin
out to be
a nice guy. Maybe he was only nice to her.

Molly’s childhood best friend
, Kelly,
came in and immediately pulled me in to a hug. I
felt instantly drawn to
the bubbly girl
.
I could tell it wasn’t an act. She really
was
happy to meet me. I guess we had something big in common—we both loved Molly.

We pushed a few tables together and sat down. I ended up sandwiched between Ronny and Jake. It was a very entertaining spot to
occupy
. Ronny was a comedian
,
and Jake was as Molly described him
:
weird
,
but
in
a cute way.

I looked up a
s
Gavin and Kelly’s husband
,
Tom
,
sat down at the table
. I tentatively
glanced
at Gavin again, but he didn’t even bother to acknowledge me this time. What a jerk. But then again, maybe he thought I was flirting
,
and
he
just wasn’t interested. I couldn’t deny the guy was nice on the eyes. Tall, tan, and athletic, he was pretty much physical perfection.
He even managed to make a one or two day old beard look sexy.
I ignored him and turned back toward Jake.

Tom asked me how I
was enjoying
Clayton Falls, and I told him the truth
:
I liked it
,
but it was different. Somehow that ended up getting me in a weird pseudo fight with Gavin. I don’t really understand how it happened, but it was obvious neither one of us was going to give
in
. I was actually glad when Ronny
broke the tension by
ma
king
a crude comment implying we’d hooked up. As if.

“Ignore him,” Jake whispered
reassuringly
in my ear. I nodded
and let myself get excited about a day at the beach.

Gavin left pretty soon after, and the tension went with him.

“W
hat’s
up with Gavin? That was so out of character for him
,
”
Molly asked as soon as he left.

Tom looked behind him, probably checking to make sure Gavin was out of earshot.
“I don’t know. He’s been acting funny since last night. He practically tore a kid apart today when we pulled him over.”

I spoke up. “I think I upset him somehow.”

“Don’t think that. You have nothing to do with it,” Ronny said emphatically.

“Was he really giving you a hard time about your accent?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah. Then I made the mistake of telling him he
had
one too. That didn’t go over so well.”

Tom laughed. “I
wish I could have seen that
.”

“Really, don’t let him put you off. The people here are actually really nice.” Kelly smiled.

“You all can stop reassuring me. I’m really not that worried about
what
one person thinks of me.”
Of course
,
I was confused by it.

“All right, I just want you to feel at home here.” Molly
reached across the table to squeeze my hand
.

“I know, and I do. I mean how could I not feel at home in my amazing new digs
?”

“See, I told you you’d
like the pool house
.”
Ben
nudged
Molly
.
I got the vibe that she hadn’t been too keen on the idea, and he was talking to her as much as me.

“
You’re
living in their pool house?” Ronny
set down his empty beer
.

Jake tipped his chair back. “Yeah, the
‘
rents used it as an excuse to kick me out.”

“It’s about time,” Ben ribbed.

I decided to jump back in. “I can understand your reluctance to leave. I mean
,
living rent free has its perks.”

“Exactly. Finally someone’s on my side.”

“She never said she was on your side,” Molly teased.

“She didn’t have to. By the way
,
Becca, do you want a ride home? I realized after I left that I once again forgot those books.”

“Sure, it doesn’t make sense for Molly and Ben to go so out of their way.”

“It’s not a big deal
,
”
Molly said quickly.

“
Y
ou ready to go? I want to surf
in the morning
,
so I’m going to turn in early.”

“Sure.” I was definitely ready to head home. It had been a weird night. I started to say my goodbyes.

“Hey, Becca, can I talk to you for a second?” Ronny asked.

“Sure…”

“Cool.” He walked a little way from the table
,
and I followed. I noticed Jake watch us with an amused expression.

“I know this might seem a little forward, but I’d love to take you out sometime.”

“Oh, yeah? Thanks.
”
A
ck, thanks? I never knew what to say in
that kind of situation
.

“So is that a yes?”
h
e asked hopefully.

I thought about it for a moment. He was cute and seemed nice, but I knew nothing about him.
On the other hand, offending him might make things weird for Molly. I wished he hadn’t cornered me. “What did you have in mind?”

“Maybe dinner one night this week?”

“Here in town?”

He gave me a funny look. “Sure, unless you want to go into Wilmington. I’m game for either. It’s the company I’m after.”

“Well
,
I don’t know
what my hours are going to be
with work.”

“Okay. I can tell this is making you nervous. How about coffee?”

I relaxed a little
. C
offee sounded more casual. “Okay.”

“Great. Can I get your number?” I gave it to him and let him program his into my phone.

“You ready?” Jake join
ed
us.

“Yup,
” I said quickly. I wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen next.

“Good night. I’ll call you.” Ronny smiled before walking back to the table.

Jake and I walked out to the lot. He stopped in front of a jeep with the top down. “Ronny
didn’t waste much time
,
did he?”

“No. I didn’t see it coming.”
I pulled an elastic off my wrist to tie up my hair so it wouldn’t blow all over the place.

“What did you agree to?” He started the engine and pulled out of the lot.

“Coffee one night this week.”

“Good call. That way
,
if the conversation is boring
,
you don’t have to suffer through a whole meal.”

“It sounds like you know from experience.”

“I do. I actually have a coffee date of my own on Thursday.”

“Oh yeah? Who’s the lucky girl?”

“A junior at UNC-Wilmington I met at one of Ben’s shows.”

“Oh, well you’ll have to let me know how it goes.”

“Same to you. If Ronny gets out of line
,
you
just
tell me, okay?”

I smiled. It was nice to have someone worried about me. “I will.”

We pulled into his
parent’s
driveway
,
but he didn’t move to get out. “Don’t you need to come in and get your
books?
”

“Oh, I’ll just get those next time.”

“You never planned to get them, did you?”
I crossed my arms and tried to bite back a smile.

“Nope. But I could tell you’d had enough.”

I smiled.
“Thanks. That was really cool.”

“I try. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

As I got ready for bed
,
I thought about how I’d managed to make a friend, line up a date
,
and earn myself an enemy
.
N
ot bad for a little over twenty-four hours in a
new
town.

Chapter Six

Becca

Molly picked me up for brunch
,
and we met up with Kelly
at
Surf S
ong
,
a cute
restaurant
overlooking
the water. The staff was friendly, and they all seemed to know Molly and Kelly. I was really going to have to get used to that. At Molly’s suggestion
,
I tried the
French
toast and ordered mine with strawberries.

“So
,
I hear you have a date with Ronny later this week.” Kelly grinned, taking a sip from her
mug
.

“It’s not a big deal. We’re just meeting for coffee.” I drank some orange juice, enjoying its obviously fresh squeezed taste.

“
Uh huh.”

“Molly didn’t seem to think it was a big deal
. I
s there som
ething about him I should know
?”

“No. He just isn’t the one I would have thought you would have gone for.”

“Oh?
Is there someone you’d suggest
?” I really didn’t mind Kelly talking about my personal
life
.
I appreciated her friendly nature
.
H
er warm welcome made the transition easier
.

“Tom and I both figured you would have picked Gavin.”

Molly groaned. “Oh please
.
Tom is not allowed to try to set up every girl who comes to town with Gavin.”

“It’s not just Tom. Gavin seriously needs a girlfriend.”
Kelly spread jam on her toast.

“I wouldn’t waste your breath. I
,
uh
,
don’t think I’m his type.”
I savored a bite of the
French
toast. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten such a
carb-
heavy breakfast.
“I think that was made pretty obvious last night.”

“Wait, so does that mean he’s your type?” Kelly pushed.

“No
,
” I said quickly.

Kelly relaxed back into her chair.
“You’re a really bad liar.”

Molly snickered. “That she is. It’s probably good she’s all about honesty. What the heck was that about by the way?”

“Hmm?” I looked up from stirring in a packet of
Splenda
into my coffee.

“What was that whole fight with Gavin about last night?”

“Like I know? Seriously, you could have warned me he was so intense.”

Molly looked pensive.
“He isn’t usually. Besides, I didn’t expect you guys to meet so quickly. It’s pretty lucky he found you the other night.”

I shivered involuntarily. As annoying as the guy was
, I was glad he’d been
the one
to
find
me. I could
have been
dead in a ditch without him. “I know. Maybe he just thought I was ungrateful or something
.
”