Page 6 of Love Deep

A whisper of panic crosses her face. “Oh, I… I’m not really—I paint for fun. I sell one now and again. Twilight Latte always has one up and a few other stores in nearby towns. I don’t expect I’m going to make it or anything.”

She lets out a nervous laugh at the end, like she’s ridiculous for even thinking she might be successful. Part of me wants to scoop her up and tell her it’s going to happen for her—just like I have done with countless artists over the years when they’ve doubted themselves. But I haven’t seen her work, and so I won’t say that to her. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t give people false hope. It’s too painful in the long run. One thing I pride myself on is I don’t say things just to inflate people’s egos.

“I’d like to see your work,” I say before I have a chance to think about it. “I don’t know much about art, but…”

“Great. That sounds like fun. You just tell me when you’re free.”

I nod like I can’t form a sentence, like speaking and looking at the woman in front of me takes up too much brain capacity or something.

She glances down at my plate. “Finished your wings?”

I grin like an idiot. “They were good.”

“They were great,” she corrects me with a smile. She glances over toward the back of the bar. “You all want to come and play pool?”

“Sure,” Rosey says for all of us, and she’s out of her seat before anyone can say anything otherwise.

Byron and I take our beers and follow Juniper and Rosey.

“Juney’s nice,” Byron says, and then he sighs. “That’s it. That’s all I’m doing. If she asks, tell Rosey I told you that Juney’s the greatest woman on the planet.”

Realization dawns. “Oh, I see. It’s like that, is it?” I’m being set up. But I’m not mad about it.

Byron groans.

“Don’t sweat it,” I say. “She just wants everyone to be as happy as the two of you are. It’s nice.”

“I know. But people have to find their own path, and it’s not like you’re going to come live in Star Falls forever, is it?”

I chuckle. “Unlikely. But I’m here for the next six weeks.”

“Well, Juney is… well, she grew up a lot since high school. As you know, until the Club, I hadn’t come back to Star Falls since leaving, so she could have become a serial killer in the intervening years. We’ve been in touch a little since I came back to town, but we don’t hang out a lot. But tell Rosey I told you she’s amazing.”

“Deal.”

We knock together our beer bottles and arrive at the back of the bar, where the pool table is. There are a few women gathered around, but Rosey and Juniper seem to have already started a game.

Rosey breaks and then turns to me and Byron. “Doubles?”

Rosey hooks her arm around Byron’s, leaving me and Juniper standing here and gazing at each other.

“You in?” I croon as I tilt my head toward Juniper.

She smiles and saunters past me, and I very happily follow.

I couldn’t have picked a prettier partner.

THREE

Juniper

Playing pool with Fisher was not what I had on my bingo card for tonight. He was the last person I was expecting to run into. After missing Byron’s party a couple of months back, I’d almost forgotten about him. Kinda. Not really.

“So, you here to catch up with Byron and Rosey?” I ask him.

He looks at me, and it’s almost like I can tell he’s imagining me naked. It’s kind of a dirty look. Like he’s thinking about sex. Or maybe I’m thinking about sex.I’mdefinitely thinking about sex. It’s impossible not to, being so close to Fisher.

“Yeah, and I’m here for work too.”