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She lifted one shoulder. “Same old, same old.”

“You know, you could always diversify. Do something else.” I’d been bugging her about getting a side gig so she could work fewer hours at the bar, but she always got mad when I suggested it.

Today was no exception.

“I’m fine! Jesus, I didn’t ask you to go on a walk with me so you could nitpick every single part of my life.” Okay, she was in a mood today. I’d have to be gentle.

“You know that’s not what I’m doing,” I said.

Reid let out a frustrated sound as she merged onto the highway.

“Fuck, I know. I’m sorry. I really don’t know how you and Cade put up with me. It’s like I use up all my social skills at Sapph and then there’s nothing in the tank when I have to be a regular person. And I’m not even that nice at Sapph!”

She banged her hand on the steering wheel and I was glad we were going for a little nature walk because she clearly needed it.

“Anyway, what’s going on with you? I don’t want to spend the whole day bitching.” She made a face.

“Work. Parents. Never enough hours in the day.”

Reid nodded. “Nothing else?”

“Not really,” I said.

“See, you might not know this, but I can tell when you’re lying, kid. So what’s going on? You’ve been hiding something for a while.”

Shit. I guess it was time to talk to someone about Stace. All of it was so confounding that I had to unload it on another person just to attempt to process it for myself.

“Okay. But I’m going to need you to stay quiet and promise you won’t offer any kind of advice.”

Reid raised her eyebrows and flicked me a look. “I don’t know if I can promise that. The whole point of having friends is telling them things and then they give you advice. Like you just did when I was complaining about Sapph?”

She had me there.

“Fine. Just…hold most of your judgment.” I knew there would be some. Maybe a lot.

The rest of the drive to the nature trail I gave Reid a short rundown of everything that happened with Stace. Not everything, of course. I left out the more salacious bits, but I gave her a general idea.

“Wow, she sounds hot. Has she ever come to Sapph?” I’d never asked her.

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Oh, I think it’s relevant. If she’s been one of my customers then I could tell you what she’s like when she’s at a bar. You can learn a lot about people when they have a drink in their hand.” Wasn’t that the truth?

“I’ll find out. But that’s not the point. She literally said that she wanted to seduce me, and I told her that wasn’t going to happen. We want different things. I know I need to cut her off, but I just…” I trailed off.

“You like her,” Reid said. “That’s obvious. You really like her.”

“I don’t like her, like her, Reid.”

She turned into the lot and found a parking space. The place was crowded with people walking their dogs and families with kids and backpacks and couples with matching walking sticks. The weather was surprisingly warm today. One of the last warm days we’d probably have this year until we fell face first into winter.

“What if you did like her? What’s wrong with that?” she asked as we adjusted our bags. I had a backpack I brought with me just for trips like these that I didn’t use any other time. I liked having enough snacks and water on hand, as well as a first aid kit and extra shoes and socks. Just in case.

“Liking leads to relationships and you know I don’t do those,” I said as we passed a woman and her dog. It was the same color as Buck and for a moment I froze, wondering if Stace ever brought him here for walks. I bet she had.

“Oh, right. Your relationship ban. I forgot that you’ve just…decided that’s a thing you can do.” Reid and Cade always scoffed when I said I had no interest in relationships. When I’d first told them about it, they’d wondered if I was asexual or aromantic or a combination of the two. I almost thought about telling them yes, I was, but that wasn’t true. Instead I’d explained my reasoning and they’d been skeptical and had tried to tell me that I was going to change my mind when I met someone who knocked me off my feet. I’d told them that even if I did, I would simply choose not to let things get that far. Can’t fall in love if you never open yourself up to someone else.

“It is. I’m not getting into a relationship with her. Other than a friendship, anyway.” If only she hadn’t said the seduction thing. I kept going back to that. Shocking thing to say to someone.