I hurry away from the table before Lewis can argue. Find a spot at the closest bar. Glance around while I wait for the business guys in front of me to get their drinks. Finally they move off and I slide into the space they made.
My friend from eighties night is on tonight. He gives me the once over again. Smiles. “Lily Kelly.”
“Barkeep,” I respond as I spot my, er, Vale. He’s leaning over the bar talking to a woman. Smiling like… Is he flirting with her? She gazes up at him and twirls her red hair around a finger.
“The name is Lake,” he says. “What will you have?”
“Er.” I don’t know whether to march over there and lay claim to my man. Or worry. Or maybe just trust that he isn’t actually flirting with her. I take a deep breath. He’s put a lot of effort into not getting involved with anyone. Until me. That has to count for something doesn’t it? “I should be patient, right?”
“I can’t say,” the tender says.
I swing my attention to the man behind the bar. “Huh?”
“You asked me if you should be patient.”
“Oh. Sorry.” I grip the edge of the glossy wood. “I’ll take three tequila shots. A jug of panty droppers and a beer.”
He nods and starts pouring spirits into a blender.
I clench my jaw and puff out my cheeks. Tap my fingers on the barrier of the bar. I will not be a jealous girlfriend when I’m not even a girlfriend. We’re just seeing if this thing could be a thing.
It’s not easy to be patient when this is no longer a silly crush to me. I’ve always been half in love with him. Now I’m falling the rest of the way faster than I want to.
Especially when he’s not ready. If he’ll ever be ready. It’s hard not to worry when he’s clearly affected by his brother marrying his ex. She must have been something to wreck him the way she did.
I frown as I notice a box of cereal on the stainless steel work surface behind the barrier. The cardboard box is red. There’s a blue pirate on it. I step up on the foot rail and grab the box. “Is this yours?”
Lake turns around.
“Is this yours?” I repeat, practically screaming the words. I shake the carton for emphasis.
He lifts a shoulder and drops it as he smiles at me. “Help yourself.”
I rip into the top of the box. Yank the two sides of the plastic apart. And shove a handful of the cereal into my mouth. I chew like my life depends on it. Oh my God, the captain is here. He’s a bartender. Of course he is. This is my life. My squirrels are running circles around me again.
“Hungry?” Lake asks as he places the jug on a tray in front of me.
“Cap’N?” I shake the box at him. “You. You’re the Cap’N.”
“What?”
“You. Are. The. Captain.” I talk like one of those dickheads who thinks that deaf people can’t read their lips unless they speak at half speed.
“No,” he says slowly, staring at me like I’ve stumbled out of an alternative reality.
“This isn’t yours?” I shake the box in his face again.
“Not mine.” He takes a step back to avoid getting thwacked by said container.
“Then whose?” I glance to my left, peer to my right. There are people everywhere, but not one of them has recognition in their eyes. A few look at me like I might be having a breakdown though.
A girl to my left side-eyes me and takes a huge step out of my space.
“I don’t know,” Lake says.
“Are you sure?” I lean right over the counter and grab the guy’s shirt.
“Lily?” Vale’s hand lands on my shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“I…” Lake is staring at me as though he isn’t quite sure what to do. I take in the bunched material in my fist. Relax my hand and pat the creased cotton back in place. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“All good?” Vale asks the guy.
“Yeah.” Lake shakes his head at me.
“Care to tell me what that was about?” Vale gently eases the box out of my hand.
“I…” Literally have no idea where to start with the whole captain situation. I probably should have told him already, but there was never a time when it seemed important to bring it up, and blurting it out now doesn’t seem prudent. “Who was that girl?”
“A customer,” he says.
“You were awfully chummy,” I say. Apparently I’m not above blurting out what else is on my mind, like a possessive little psychopath.
“I knew her a million years ago. We went to school together.” He frowns. “Were you jealous?”
“No. Nope.” I watch Lake add the shots and beer to the tray. Huff under my breath. I don’t like seeing other women come on to Vale. That’s my job. “I’m totally cool. You’re not my boyfriend. We don’t have a label.”
“Do you want a label?”
I gape at him. Swallow. Is this his way of asking me to be his girlfriend? I snatch the box back and pop more cereal in my mouth. Crunch on it, because seriously, it’s better than talking when what I want to say is, Duh, I’ve wanted you to be my boyfriend since I was sixteen years old. I don’t want to scare him off. I also don’t want to push him into a commitment he isn’t ready for.
I challenge him with my serious stare bear face. “Do you?”
“I…” Vale reaches into the box and pulls out a couple of pieces and pops them into his mouth. His brows furrow. “Why are you eating my cereal?”
“Your cereal?” My knees wobble.
“Yes.”
I palm the bar while the planet seems to spin under me as I come to the only possible conclusion. How did I not see that he was—Cap’N Crunch was—Vale?
He puts the box on the bar and clasps my face. “Are you okay?”
“You call your dick The Captain,” I croak.
“Not anymore.” He leans in so his lips tickle my ear. “You changed it, remember? Goliath has grown on me.”
His app he wouldn’t talk about with anyone. The way he said he wasn’t ready to date. His screwed up backstory I still don’t know all the details of. His feelings for his best friend’s sister. His love of cereal. “Oh my God.”
“Lily, you’re really worrying me,” he says.
He loves cereal more than I do. It’s part of the reason I’ve always loved going to his loft. He has a whole section of his pantry dedicated to crunchy, sugary breakfast foods. He keeps them all in tall, clear canisters. He has the best cereal bowls too. Wide and deep so the milk won’t spill. He even has long handled teaspoons, because he knows I only like to use little spoons.
I fumble my purse with shaky hands, trying to open the clasp so I can get my card out.
“I’ve got it,” Vale says before turning to Lake. “Start me a tab.”
Lake nods while I pick up the tray. “I-I have to go back to my friends.”
“Are you sure you’re okay, Lil?” Vale steps in to take the tray from me. “You don’t seem—”
“Fine. I’m fine,” I say, gripping the tray so tightly he can’t take it out of my hands.