Eat Crow (Cheap Thrills 6)

Yeah, two tragedies had occurred that day: bad Mexican and food poisoning. It was criminal.

Frowning, she looked down at the taco she was just about to bite into. “Is this restaurant better? I haven’t heard much about it.”

Taking as big of a bite as I could, I nodded as I chewed. “Yeah, they’re family-owned. They used to sell the stuff they made at a small shop with a stall outside when it was warm, but they received a start-up cash injection to open the restaurant. It’s one of the best things to happen to Piersville.”

Finally, she gave in and bit into it, groaning when she tasted it, and I paused with my mouth open just as I went to take another bite of my taco. Closing her eyes, she moaned and chewed, making me shift slightly.

“Okay, now this is a good taco.” Opening her eyes back up, she incorrectly read the expression on my face. “Please tell me it’s not a taco fluke and that they’re all as good as this?”

Swallowing awkwardly, I took another bite and took my time chewing and swallowing it. “No, this one’s always awesome, so the odds are probably in our favor.”

Finishing them off was a test in restraint and patience, and by the time it was over, I’d made a mental note to avoid getting tacos again in the near future.

While we were moving furniture out into the garage so we could shrink-wrap more flooring, she told me about her plans to meet up with Ava. They’d been best friends since they were little as well, even though she was eighteen months older than Bexley.

She also filled me in on the English teacher vacancy at Piersville High that she’d applied for.

“I emailed my CV in to the principal, and it only took them like twenty minutes to call me about it,” she explained as we set down a wooden cabinet on a dust sheet in the garage.

“I’ve got an interview in three days. Lucky for me, there isn’t a lot of demand just now for small town living, so they’re going to do the background check and whatever else they need to do between now and then. After it, I’m flying to Boston to pack up and give it all to the company moving my stuff, and by the time I fly back, they should have an answer. If the timing works out right, I’ll have everything here by the time I start. If not, then I’ll just pack some work clothes until the rest arrive, and I’ve got Pops’ Toyota 4Runner to drive around in.”

It was crazy how it was all falling into place, but what sucked was the fact it’d taken her losing Lawrence for it to happen.

Cracking the kink out of my neck, I focused on the wall over her shoulder as I asked what’d been weighing on me. “Do you think you’ll enjoy moving back here? It’s different to living in a place like Boston, and the school’s—”

“The same one I went to,” she interrupted. “I know it better than the one I was working at, and I have family here that I’ve missed. I’ll probably miss some of the things I had in Boston that we don’t have here, but I figure having friends and family only five minutes away from me will more than make up for the lack of Starbucks.”

I dared to look away from the wall to make sure she wasn’t lying, but the expression on her face was serious. “Really? That’s kind of a big sacrifice.” I shook my head like I was mulling it over seriously. “Then again, there’s a Starbucks twenty minutes away now.”

“Yeah, in the wrong direction to Piersville High, though.”

“Fair point.”

Walking back into the house, she said over her shoulder, “I don’t know until I try it, right? And if it doesn’t work out, there’ll be something else out there.”

I missed a step as what she’d registered. “Wait, why wouldn’t it work out here?”

Shooting me a grin, she explained, “Well, you might have a new secret to divulge that alters the course of my life again. You and one of the Townsends could be in love and planning to elope in Vegas and want the land Pops’ house is on.”

My mouth opened and closed as I tried to figure out what the hell she was talking about. “I’m fairly certain they’re all happily married, Bex.”

Raising her eyebrows, it was her turn to be shocked by my reply. “I was talking about Layla. Why would you assume we were talking about one of the guys?”

Because I can’t get away from them? The Townsend family were like herpes. First you came across one, then another two popped up behind them.

I was about to say that to her, but she gasped, “Oh wow, are you gay? That’s so cool.”

“What? No. Why are we even talking about this?”

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Throwing her arms up in the air, she snapped, “I don’t know.”

There was a brief pause, and then both of us burst out laughing. It felt good to have this with her, being able to laugh shit out like we used to.

“Oh God, your face when I asked if you were gay,” she gasped, holding her side.

Still laughing, I shook my head to clear it. “We’ve had a lot of random conversations over the years, but that one might just be at the top of the list.”