Page 21 of Ghost Business (Boneyard Key #2)
Sophie waved it off; she was a wine girl if she drank at all. So she took her own trip to the counter to get a soda. She wasn’t alone at the fountain; Jo Seavey stared intently into her cup, waiting for the fizz to go down in her Diet Coke. Jo glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
“Hey.” She shook her dark hair out of her eyes, and Sophie smiled back.
She didn’t know Jo very well—Sophie had been four years ahead of her in school, so they hadn’t run into each other much.
Jo helped her parents run the consignment shop down the street, which explained her eclectic style.
Her dyed black hair, choppy haircut, and heavy eyeliner screamed nineties goth, but she wore a pink lace cardigan over her dark blue tank dress, and the watch around her wrist was an ornamental bracelet easily from the Edwardian period.
“Ghost tour night?” She stepped aside so Sophie could fill her own cup.
“Every week,” Sophie said pleasantly. “What about you? Working late on a Friday?”
Jo nodded and rolled her eyes. “Inventory. Thought I’d just eat here rather than get dishes dirty at home.” She glanced into the dining room, which was starting to look packed now that there were five whole customers in there. “I didn’t realize this was the place to be on a Friday night.”
“We know how to party,” Sophie said. “I may need to add this place to my tour.”
“Please don’t!” Terry called from the counter. “Too many people here already. I’m only letting y’all stay because I like you.”
Jo and Sophie shared a grin. “Wanna join us?” Sophie asked.
“You sure?” Jo raised her eyebrows in surprise, and Sophie’s heart melted. Something about Jo seemed lonely, and Sophie wanted nothing more than to bring her into the fold.
“Of course.” She led Jo back to the group. Nick was nestled into a chair next to Cassie, and Libby sat across from them. Sophie took a seat next to her, and Jo flanked Sophie’s other side.
“I already ordered for everyone,” Cassie said. “Hope that’s okay.”
“That’s fine.” Sophie’s heart dipped a little, but she reminded herself that Cassie could be trusted with pizza toppings. Even if it wasn’t what Sophie would order for herself.
Not that she needed to worry. When the pizzas arrived, Terry slid Sophie’s favorite in front of her with a wink. “I got you, girl.”
Cassie blinked. “Did I get it wrong?”
“Not at all. Terry just knows what I like.” She pulled a couple slices onto a thick plastic plate. “And I mean, it’s pizza. I’m not going to complain about pizza.”
“Oh, good.” Cassie started sawing at one of her slices with a plastic knife. “Besides, what’s that old saying? Pizza’s like sex?”
Libby chimed in. “Even when it’s bad it’s pretty good.”
Sophie nodded emphatically. It was way too soon to take a bite, but she did anyway and promptly burned the roof of her mouth. Worth it.
“Except maybe if there’s pineapple on it.” Nick shook his head. “That shit’s not natural.”
Sophie tilted her head as she chewed. “On the pizza or the sex?”
Jo snorted, but Cassie’s plasticware clattered to the table. “Wait. You don’t like pineapple on pizza? How did I not know this till now?”
“You never asked.” Nick shrugged while Cassie shook her head.
“I’m rethinking this whole relationship.”
The front door opened, drawing everyone’s attention to Theo strolling in.
Something about him looked weird, but Sophie couldn’t put her finger on it.
Seeing him outside of Boneyard Books looked unnatural, like catching your teacher at the bar.
On certain nights she wondered if he was a ghost himself, doomed to stroll the shelves. But that was ridiculous.
“Hey, Theo!” Libby said cheerfully. “Come join us.” She pulled out one of the chairs on her side of the table.
“No, that’s okay. I was just on the way home.” Now Sophie realized why he looked different: his bow tie was off, and the top button of his shirt was undone. That was as casual as she’d ever seen him.
“So was I,” Jo said, much too darkly for someone who was wrestling with a cheese pull. “There’s no use resisting. You may as well sit down.”
“That’s right.” Libby’s cheer was off the charts. “You can’t say no to me.”
“Apparently not.” He took the proffered chair, and a few moments later Terry appeared with a to-go box.
“Let me guess, you’re staying too?” He sighed and put the box on the neighboring table before pulling said table over into an impossibly long configuration.
“Y’all are going to need more room if you’re making this a party.
” He did his best to sound long-suffering, yet he returned almost immediately with a pitcher of soda, a second pitcher of beer, and extra cups.
“We’re not going to need all these cups,” Theo said after taking one.
“We might.” Cassie passed him one of the pitchers. “You never know who’s going to walk in next.”
Almost on cue, the door opened again, and Sophie turned, prepared to cheer the newest member of this impromptu pizza party. But the cheer died in her throat, because of course.
It was Tristan. Cravat loosened and top hat in hand, his blond hair sweaty and plastered to his forehead. Just another Boneyard Key resident at the end of a long Friday night.
He stopped short when faced with the oversize table at the front of the pizza place, and his startled look gave Sophie pause. It was like a mask had slipped from his face, and he looked uncertain. He looked tired. Lonely, even.
Maybe she wanted him to look tired and lonely. As tired and lonely as she felt sometimes. But she didn’t have long to think about it before the mask was back on, his smile as easygoing as ever. “Hey.” His greeting encompassed the whole table. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
Across the table, Cassie looked at Sophie, telegraphing a question with her eyes.
Sophie felt a flare of anger—why was this even an option?
Tristan was the guy putting her out of business.
He was the enemy . But there was something about that glimpse behind the mask that threw everything into question.
Maybe she could be an adult about this. Be polite to him in public.
That dream she’d been trying all day to forget came roaring back, setting her blood thrumming. She didn’t feel like an adult. She felt like a horny teenager. Everything was muddled now when it came to Tristan, and Sophie didn’t know how to feel anymore.
Ugh. Fine. “Sit.” She folded her arms across her chest as she slouched down in her seat. “There’s plenty of room.”