Page 4 of Turn of the Tides
I didn’t realize how tightly my entire body had locked up until the pencil in my hand snapped right in two. I cleared my throat, dropping the pieces, and hopped off the stool, rounding the bar and grabbing a bottle of vodka off the shelf. I poured myself two fingers and tossed them back, hissing at the burn it caused as it made its way down my throat.
“Uh, Presley? Babe, are you okay?”
I opened my mouth, breathing like a dragon as I blew out the fire caused by the liquor. “Of course I am. Why do you ask?”
“You mean besides the fact it’s ten-thirty in the morning, you’re on the clock, and just downed two shots worth of booze?”
I probably would have poured myself another if she hadn’t pointed it out. Morning drinking on the job was the last thing a person who wanted to own a bar should be doing.
“Okay. Point taken.” I twisted the cap back onto the vodka bottle and returned it to the shelf. I braced my hands on the bar and pulled in a calming breath, willing my heart to slow down. I wasn’t going to let that man cause me to backslide.
“Now, when you sayback, what exactly do you mean?”
“Apparently he retired recently, and the reports are saying he’s taken a job coaching at OU. It was just announced yesterday. It’s all anyone who came into Drip this morning could talk about.”
A small spark of hope flared to life inside of me. “Hey, that could just mean he’s coming back to Oregon, not necessarily Whitecap. Just because he’s taken a coaching job doesn’t mean he has to come backhere. Maybe he’s choosing to stay closer to campus?”
The pitying look on her face told me all I needed to know. She shook her head. “Monica told me herself he was moving back home. Got that straight from her hubs, and you know how close Sam and Beau always were.”
I let out a defeated sigh and dropped my head. If that came from Sam it might as well be taken as gospel. I never understood that relationship. Sam and Monica Killborne were two of the best people I’d ever met. Monica had the biggest heart and Sam was usually so good at reading people and spotting bullshit a mile away. I never understood his relationship with Beau. It didn’t make sense that he wasn’t able to see through him the way I did.
I pulled in a fortifying breath, steeling my spine and straightening my shoulders. I could do this. I was an adult, for God’s sake. I could handle some stupid guy.
“You know what? It’s fine. This is fine. Totally fine.” Maybe if I said it enough I could will it into becoming the truth.
Colbie looked like she believed me just as much as I did. “Are you sure? I know how you feel about the guy.”
I lifted a brow. “You mean how I hate him?”
The corners of her mouth wobbled with suppressed laughter. “Exactly.”
“It’ll be fi—” I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from sayingfineagain when her brows lifted high on her forehead.“All right, it sucks. I’ll admit that, but I can handle it. This isn’t high school anymore. I can’t speak for him, but I’m a hell of a lot more mature than I was back then.”
She lifted a hand and tilted it from side to side. “Well...”
I threw a clean hand towel at her face. “Shut up, assface. I am!”
She laughed, holding her hands up in surrender. “You are. I believe you.”
She didn’t. But that was okay. I didn’t believe me either, so it would be a double bonus when I proved us both wrong.
God,I hoped I could prove us both wrong.
I decided to move on from that and said, “Besides, Whitecap might be a small town, but it’s not microscopic. I’m sure it’ll be easy enough to avoid him if I work extra hard at it.”
She held up both of her hands, crossing her fingers tightly. “I’m rooting for you, babe.”
I appreciated her support, but I had this. I could do it. I’d worked too damn hard to build my life into what I wanted. Into something I could be proud of, and I’d be damned if I’d let a man come in and mess things up. Beau Wade meant nothing to me. Actually,lessthan nothing. He wasn’t even a blip on my radar. And I’d make damn sure to keep it that way.
Colbie shook her hands in front of her like she was trying to clear the negativity from the air. “Enough about that flaming dog turd.” She smiled big and waggled her brows. “Let’s talk about something else... like our high school reunion coming up next weekend,” she spit out quickly, making sure to get all the words out before I could cut her off.
I let out a pained groan and dropped my head back dramatically. “Colbie,no,” I stressed. This was only the thousandth time she’d mentioned that stupid reunion since the invitations were delivered. “I told you, I’m not going to thatthing. High school wasn’t exactly a time in my life I’d like to reminisce about.”
She blew out a dramatic raspberry. “Please. High school reunions aren’t about reminiscing. They’re about seeing people you haven’t seen if fifteen years and being able to show them how much better you’re doing than they are.”
I gave her a bland look. “I see two flaws in your logic already. First,” I lifted my index finger in the air, “half our graduating class still lives here, just like us, and I see most of them on a regular basis when they come into my bar.”
“Ah, yes. But that’s only half.”