Page 46 of Take a Hike

“One of the great things about living in a small town,” Vivian replied before a phone from her purse started ringing. She encouraged Raven to take another look around the house as she took the call.

“How many more homes are you looking at today?” her mom asked as they took another turn about the main bedroom.

“One more,” Raven said, her words distorted by what felt like her dozenth yawn that hour.

“You didn’t get enough sleep or something?” her mom asked.

“Late night,” Raven said. “Went to the bar with people from work.”

“Oh, how was that?”

“It was fun,” Raven said, taking a sudden interest in the stone that made up the fireplace area.

“Uh-oh. What happened?” her mom asked.

“Nothing. I said it was fun.”

“You would have gone into detail already if it were fun.”

For a moment, Raven debated sticking to her vague assertion, not wanting to make a big deal of what had kept her up most of the night, but the next words out of her mouth were “I made out with someone I probably shouldn’t have.”

“Is he married?” her mom asked without missing a beat.

“No.”

“A musician?”

“God, no.”

“Baby, don’t tell me he’s a politician.”

“Mom, it was Silas.”

“Oh. Wow, okay. Did not expect that.”

“It was great, honestly,” Raven said. “Usually I think of first kisses as being meh or complete disasters. But this one was so confident with literally zero awkwardness. I’d crown it the best I’ve ever experienced.”

Raven realized after she stopped speaking that her comments sounded too enthusiastic.

“You don’t like him, right?” her mom asked, her face turning serious. “I don’t want you getting caught up.”

“No, no,” Raven said, laughing lightly. “Please. It was something that happened in front of a dive bar.”

But Raven and her mom both knew how Raven tended to lose her head when she got infatuated. Her common sense got pixelated, and she’d jump into relationships that burned bright and hot but eventually fizzled out.

However, this situation was completely different.

The excitement she was feeling could be mostly assigned to the ego-boost the make-out gave her. She’d been feeling pathetic for lusting over Silas, so it felt good to know the attraction wasn’t one-sided. That was all.

“I know why I’m here,” Raven said to her mom. “You don’t have to worry.”

* * *

“The band has a gig coming up,” Doc said to the Mountaintop team as they walked into the break room first thing in the morning. “Let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll reserve tickets for you.”

“You bet your ass I’m interested,” Halo said.

“We doing a carpool again?” Bodie asked as he placed Chestnut in his playpen. “If so, Tess wants to come.”