Room at the Inn

“Yeah, well, no offense, but who asked you?”

Leo sort of smiled and shook his head. He leaned back against the booth, his legs widespread, his open face disarmed in a way that made Carson uncomfortable. “Do you even remember why you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I’m curious. Do you remember?”

“ ’Course I remember.”

He hated Leo because they’d been best friends. From somewhere in the mists of time around second grade all the way through to their sophomore year in high school, Leo was always over at the house, eating Mom’s cookies, playing Legos, watching TV, and doing homework with him. Until they’d fought.

“Then say it.”

“We argued.”

“About?”

“About me leaving.” Story of his life.

Carson took a bite of the grilled cheese. It was dry and cold, and he had to work hard to chew it.

“You said Potter Falls was a shitty little backwater, and you couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”

“And you said you were going to own the place one day, and I was going to die alone out in the world somewhere, and nobody would notice or care.”

Leo nodded. “So why was that it for us?”

“What do you mean?”

Leo leaned forward. “It wasn’t much of an argument, Carse. You insulted Potter Falls, which you knew damn well means a lot to me, and I was pissed off because I cared more what you thought than anybody else. And jealous because you were going to leave me here for something better, and I knew even then I’d never leave. I said something in the heat of the moment that I later regretted. We were fifteen. Why didn’t you ever get over it?”

He’d never gotten over it because Leo turned into a pompous asshole who’d grown three inches their junior year in high school, taken possession of his father’s three-year-old Mercedes, and started escorting girls to the movies in Fenimore.

But maybe that wasn’t much of a reason, either.

Carson shrugged.

Leo squinted at him.

He had green eyes, the best feature left in a face that wasn’t aging with much grace. Piercing, intelligent eyes that Carson had sometimes felt could see further inside him than anyone else’s.

“Are you back or not?” Leo asked.

Carson shrugged again.

“Are you going to break her heart this time?”

Digging his wallet out of his pocket, Carson stood up. He dropped a ten on the table. He’d nearly cleared the door when he heard Leo’s last words.

“If you decide to stay, look me up. We could use somebody with your skills in this town.”

Carson stalked up the street, away from the meager offerings of downtown Potter Falls.

Fucking Leo Potter. Lord of the manor. King of the Chamber of Commerce.

Hard to feel anything but animosity toward the guy who’d been banging Julie not too long ago.

Especially when he’d once known you better than anybody.