Call me old-fashioned, but a first kiss was something you’d remember forever, and I felt like it needed to be special.
It was like having your first kiss in a relationship. I didn’t want to marry a guy and know that our first kiss was a dare, for example. I wanted it to mean something.
The teen boys in my line didn’t feel the same way.
Neither did all the twenty-something women in Preston’s line.
I wasn’t bitter.
All right, I was a little bit bitter.
It was a shit situation to be in. There wasn’t much worse than listening to the guy you had a stupid crush on kissing other women repeatedly.
That was my issue with this whole thing. It wasn’t that it was happening, but more that I had to listen to it. That and all the giggling from the women in line waiting to kiss Creek Falls’ most eligible bachelor.
The fair was due to start at midday today. There was a huge horse show on the field adjoining the fairground that was due to start today, so there would be a huge influx of people coming into town for the show.
I didn’t care a bit about it. I wasn’t a horse person. To be honest, I wasn’t even a raccoon person, but here I was, standing on my back porch, cleaning out their bowls with hot, soapy water.
I guess people could change.
As long as I didn’t change much more, it’d be fine.
I finished up cleaning the bowls and headed back inside. I drained the water down the sink and tossed the wet rag into the basin after it.
My phone buzzed on the counter, and I picked it up in one hand and my coffee in the other.
REAGAN: What time are you getting to the fair? I have to deliver flowers to my parents.
ME: 11ish.
REAGAN: Wanna grab coffee before the booth opens?
ME: Are you paying?
REAGAN: No.
ME: Fine. Is Ava around?
REAGAN: She had another fight with Butler last night. I’ll text her.
ME: Meet you at your parents’ stall?
REAGAN: Yep. See you then.
***
By the time I’d showered and gotten ready for the day, my coffee was cold. Instead of making it again, I walked the short distance from my house to the fairground. After showing my volunteer pass to the guy at the entrance, I headed in the direction of The Wright Bouquet’s stall.
It wasn’t too hard to find. The Wrights had had the same stall since I could remember, and even if I didn’t know, there was no missing the giant tulip that stretched several feet above all the other stalls.
It smelled freaking gorgeous. The closer I got, the richer the smell was. I loved it, and visiting the flower stores had always been something I’d looked forward to when I was younger. I’d even worked in the flagship store here in Creek Falls when I was a teenager and wanted extra money on the weekend.
Working in a florist was harder than you’d think. I actually had a scar on my thumb from a particularly bitchy little thorn on a rose stem.
A vibrant sprig of lavender was one of the first plants I saw as I reached the front. Gently, I put out my hand and pulled it toward me to smell it.
“Morning, Halley!”
I jumped at the sound of Robert Wright’s voice. “You scared the life out of me!”
He chuckled, rubbing his hands on the stained apron that covered his front. “Sorry, darlin’. I thought you knew I was here.”
“I guessed, but I was too busy smelling your lavender.” I grinned and stepped away before the scent was embedded in my skin for the next week. “Is Reagan here yet?”
“She was here with Ava about ten minutes ago. She told me to ask you to head over to the food stalls. Something about coffee being on her and if you brought whiskey, it’s a bonus.”
I grimaced. “Oh, dear. It’s like that.”
He winked. “Are you going to stop by and get something? In fact—you don’t have to buy. You’re stuck with my son for the week. The flowers are on me.”
Laughing, I took a step back. “Well, if I knew I would get free flowers for babysitting his ass, I might have considered doing it a long time ago.”
Anton laughed and waved me goodbye as I turned in the direction of the food stalls. While most of the attractions were spread out evenly, a huge section of the fair was for food only. It was where the Ferris’ barbecue stall was, but there was every other kind of food you could imagine.
My stomach rumbled. I knew for a fact that Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence had a stall for their crepes this year, and I would kill for one with strawberries and Nutella.
Maybe when I was done being a good friend.
“I’m done with him!” Ava said the second she saw me. She looked exhausted, and her red-rimmed eyes gave away that she’d been crying already today. Her glasses only enhanced the tired air that hummed around her. “That’s it! No more! I mean it!”
Reagan met my eyes. “She’s been telling me that for twenty minutes.”
“Because it’s true!” Ava rammed her fist against the table.
“Mind the coffee!” Reagan grabbed my cup and handed it to me. “Here. Before The BFG over here spills it everywhere.”
“It’s nice to know you care about me so much.”
I sighed and sat down. “Ava, we love you, and that’s why we’re going to be honest with you. You’ve been here a thousand times before. You and Butler don’t work. You keep going back to him only to boomerang back to here. Don’t you think it’s time to move on?”
Reagan raised her eyebrows. “See? She agrees with me. Butler is a hack.”
“I didn’t say he was a hack,” I said quickly. “But I do agree that the relationship has run its course. You do nothing but fight.”
“I know.” Ava sniffed. “I don’t even think I love him, you know? I just… he’s comfortable. I guess I always figured that we’d work it out and it would be okay, but you’re right. It’s done, isn’t it? It’s never going to work.”
I nodded slowly, reaching over and squeezing her arm.
“No, it’s not,” Reagan said firmly. “Besides, we all know that, like Halley is hopelessly in love with my brother, you’re hopelessly in love with Ethan.”
I choked on my coffee. “I am not hopelessly in love with your brother!”
“I am not hopelessly in love with Ethan!” Ava said only a beat after I did. “I cannot stand him!”
“Can I have him then?”
“You want to date my brother’s best friend?” Ava’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Go ahead. Then you’ll see how much of an insufferable asshole he is.”
Reagan leaned forward. “See, this is how I know y’all love them. You both hate them. You’re hiding your feelings behind hatred because it’s easier than admitting you want to ride them like motorized bulls.”
“The only part of your brother I want to ride is my foot into his balls.” I put my coffee down on the table and pushed my hair behind my ear. “Being attracted to someone does not mean you’re in love with them.”
Except I was. Kinda. A little. And I was pretty sure Ava was actually in love with Ethan, but that was none of my business unless she was willing to admit it.
And, unlike Reagan, I wouldn’t press her on it.
It was like freakin’ good cop, bad cop over here.