Page 56 of Teach Me How

“You did? I’m amazed I never saw you there.”

We round the corner. I could tell her that I saw her there. Multiple times. She’s hard to miss. Bright and cheerful, she always had a group around her. I never wanted to intrude.

Crescent Moon is on the lower ground of the old creamery building. It’s exposed brick and ductwork and still feels cozy as hell. Maybe it’s the mishmash of antique velvet chairs and couches.

She takes a seat on a purple velvet couch while I go to the bar to order her matcha latte and my coffee. There’s a folk singer strumming on her guitar on the stage and it’s a pleasant contrast to the jock jams that were pulsing through the last bar.

Reese has settled into the cushions looking relaxed and cuddly. If I squint, I can almost imagine this is her downtown loft, and she’s chilling in her sleep shirt.

I’m kind of amazed she wasn’t drawn to a city setting in the first place. Clark seemed like an odd place for her to land. I know why I’m doomed to live out my days in Silver Bend. What’s her excuse? As if on cue, my leg starts to ache, a deep, irritating feeling like a sore muscle, but bone deep.

I set our drinks on the coffee table in front of us, surreptitiously rubbing at my sore thigh. Reese misses nothing, per usual. I let my hand drop away and she lets the issue drop.

This old injury is not something I like to talk about, and she knows me well enough not to bring it up.

I settle in next to her, putting an arm around her small shoulders. “We should have come here in the first place.”

Her fingers slide onto my lap. She peers up at me with a skeptical look. “And miss the game?”

I almost groan with pleasure when her fingers start kneading my aching muscles. I swallow hard, trying to stay on track. “Is that what that sorry affair was?”

She laughs, snuggling closer.

I let my arm fall along her side, curving around her middle. “I’d rather spend time with you, anyway.”

37.

Reese

It’s a crisp fall day. The sun is shining, there’s the scent of pumpkin fucking spice in the air, and I’m grumpy as hell.

Scratch that.

I’m horny as hell.

Skyler dropped me off after the game, walked me to the door like a gentleman.

Then walked away like a tease.

I went to bed with a lady boner and woke up that way thanks to a rather explicit naughty dream involving Skyler and his miraculous penis.

I wore the battery out on my vibrator, but nothing compares to the real thing. Which means, no matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking about him.

And obsessing over a man is what got me into this fix in the first place.

I built myself around Jonah. Made him part of my identity. It never occurred to me that he might cut me loose. And without him, I was adrift.

A small voice whispers that this thing with Skyler is different. I’m going in with both eyes wide open, for one thing. And I’ve known him forever. I know his best attributes and his worst.

But the biggest difference between Skyler and Jonah is that Jonah was my boyfriend. Skyler is… doing me a favor. He’s not my boyfriend and somebody better tell my heart before I completely lose it.

Again.

I stand at the window with my hood over my head, pulling the drawstrings until I’m cinched up inside, then letting it go.

Thinking about Skyler gets me thinking about the last conversation I had with Mitch and then I’m thinking about skiing on fresh snow.

I love the mountains. Always have. Ever since I was a little girl. A barb of jealousy hooks into my chest when I think about Mitch getting to see that mountain range every day. Living out there would be a dream come true. I never really considered it because my family is in Nebraska. Jonah was in Nebraska. But that was before my parents moved out of the home place. These days, they spend half their time in Florida. God only knows where my sisters will end up. Wherever they go, they’ll go because they want to, not out of obligation to the family.