Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

Theo’s eyes narrowed. “What if I’m not nice to you?”

A shiver went down my spine.

“Then you might be even more likely to get it out of me,” I said, and suddenly, we weren’t talking about potatoes anymore.

Theo put down her fork and regarded me before shaking her head and picking up her fork again.

The moment popped like a bubble.

“You’re trouble, Kendra Day. Trouble I don’t need,” she said, eyes on her plate.

“Why?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure if I wanted the answer.

“It’s too much. You’re too much,” she said in a quiet voice.

“I’ve been told that before.”

Theo sighed. “I’m sorry. But it’s not going to happen.”

I tried not to gasp as her words drove a dagger through me. I just sat there, bleeding on the inside and nodded.

“That’s okay. Can we be friends, at least?” If I couldn’t have all of her, I’d take whatever I could get. Anything was better than nothing.

“Friends?” Theo asked, finally looking up at me as I swallowed around the lump in my throat.

“Friends,” I said, nodding. “Would you want to be my friend?”

I hated how much I was begging. It wasn’t a good feeling.

As if sensing tension in the room, Scout woke up and came over to see what was going on.

“We can be friends,” Theo finally said, and I exhaled. Friends. I could do that.

“Good,” I said. “As your friend, I’ll let you know my secret ingredient is duck fat. And parmesan and other spices, but the duck fat is really what makes the potatoes good.”

Theo speared a potato on her fork and inspected it. “Duck fat. Huh.”

I smiled, even though it hurt.

Theo agreed the salad was good too, and even asked for seconds. It didn’t surprise me that she ate every last potato I’d made.

After we finished, Theo and I went back into the living room with the fan on and talked as she sipped on another beer. Scout continued to nap on the pile of towels.

It was a quiet night, but that was fine. Theo was in my house and she’d agreed to be my friend.

“You figured out what to do with your life yet?” she asked.

“Nope. Still figuring that out. But I found a bunch of things I didn’t want to do,” I said.

“That’s the first step in finding out what you do want to do,” she said. “Have you made a list of things you enjoy doing and then searched for jobs that match?”

Honestly, I hadn’t.

“Reading books in bed isn’t a job,” I said with a laugh. That really was my favorite thing.

“No, but book reviewing is a job. Librarian is a job. Owning a bookstore is a job.”

Oh. She was absolutely right.

“You okay over there?” she asked when I didn’t answer her.

“Yeah, fine, just having several epiphanies at once, no big deal,” I said.

Theo chuckled. “Happy to help. Do you need me to go, or are you good?”

“No, you can stay. I’ll think about it later.” I turned my attention from the thoughts in my head to the woman sitting next to me.

Theo laughed softly.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, just you.”

“What about me?” I asked.

Theo pressed her lips together and shook her head back and forth slowly. “Like I said, trouble.”

She drained the rest of her bottle and stood up.

“I should get going,” she said.

I didn’t want her to, but there wasn’t a good reason for her to stay. I didn’t have a TV yet, or decent chairs, or anything else to entice her.

“Right,” I said, standing to escort her out. “Well, thanks for the epiphanies.”

She set her bottle on the counter. “No problem. Let me know what you end up figuring out.” Theo called to Scout, and I walked with her out to her truck.

“Thanks for dinner, it was really good. And congrats on the kitchen.” She leaned against the door and the breeze ruffled her curls. I wanted more than anything to run my fingers through them.

“You’re welcome,” I said, looking up at her. We were so close and all I could think of was the distance between our lips. Theo was tall, but she wouldn’t have to bend that far. We could meet in the middle if I rose up on my tiptoes. It would be easy. So easy.

“I need to go,” Theo whispered, and for a second I could hear the soft desperation. She didn’t want to go.

“Then go,” I said, challenging her.

Theo made a growling noise and tried to step away from me, but she was already up against her truck, so she ended up stumbling and cursing.

It was the first time I’d seen her be less than graceful.

“You okay?” I asked, reaching over to help her as she used the truck to get upright again.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I just need to go.”

“Okay,” I said, and yanked open the door to let Scout jump in. “Come on, Scout.” He got in, excited for a ride, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.