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With a cup of coffee and a croissant each, we open our laptops and take advantage of being here to catch up on some schoolwork, our copies of Emma face-up next to our computers.
“Oh!” A delighted exclamation pulls our attention from our computer screens. “You girls are reading Emma together?”
“Hey, Cindy!” Summer beams, turning around in her chair to greet the owner of Last Word.
“Yep,” I answer, smiling. “My pick for what book we read together next after Summer pulled me to the dark side and got me into those smutty romance books of hers.”
Summer flicks her wrist at me. “You love being on the smutty romance dark side.”
I don’t protest, because she’s not wrong.
Cindy lets out a big laugh. She’s such a ball of life and energy, which makes it so funny how Summer is convinced she and the ramen shop owner Kazu have a thing for each other.
She’s as social and boisterous as can be while he might as well be the definition of terse. Even their appearances contrast, both matching their own personality—Cindy on the curvy side with a soft and inviting face, Kazu thin and wiry with sharp, hard features.
“Going from modern love stories to a classic love story,” Cindy nods. “I guess love really is in the air today.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Is it?”
“Well, I do have a date tonight …”
Summer’s squeal is practically a scream. “Really!?”
Cindy nods. “He’s a lawyer who moved here a couple months ago.”
Summer’s utterly delighted expression freezes, then melts off her face. Her brows drop, the excited smile on her lips fading. Clearly, the guy Cindy’s going on a date with isn’t the brusque ramen shop owner she was expecting.
“Oh,” Summer says, before gathering her energy back up and forcing herself to sound more enthusiastic. “That sounds great! I hope you have a great time!”
If I’m not mistaken, Cindy doesn’t look terribly excited about the date either. “I’m sure I will,” she answers, though it sounds oddly like she’s trying to convince herself.
When Cindy excuses herself to get back to work and walks out of earshot, Summer looks crestfallen.
“What is going on between those two?” she demands, clearly meaning Cindy and Kazu.
I shrug. “Maybe they’re not into each other. Maybe you and Hudson are reading into something that isn’t there.”
She shakes her head. “No way. They’re so smitten with each other. It’s just …” she sighs. “They’re probably just so different they don’t know how to express themselves to each other. Am I a bad person if I hope Cindy has a bad date tonight?”
I laugh. “Probably.”
Summer scrunches up her face thoughtfully. Then she shrugs. “Oh, well. I’m a bad person, then. I do hope she has a bad date tonight. Her and this … lawyer,” she says the word like it brings a bad taste to her mouth, “are not meant for each other.”
We settle into our schoolwork for a while, until Summer breaks the silence by saying, “Oh, by the way! I was over at Hudson’s place and overheard a conversation among the guys. Apparently, Tuck was also up at that gala in New Hampshire you went to.”
A knot tightens in my stomach. Both at feeling caught out, and at memories of how sinfully hot That Morning was.
“Oh? That’s interesting,” I say, doing my best to keep my gaze tethered to my laptop screen, my fingers typing, acting like I’m totally unaffected by what Summer just said.
To my considerable relief, Summer doesn’t have anything more to say on the topic.
I feel guilty about not telling her what happened between me and Tuck. We’re best friends. We tell each other everything. She even kept me in the loop when she and Hudson started fake dating last semester—I was the only one other than them who knew, because of course Summer wouldn’t think of trying to fool her best friend.
But it’s for the best that I pretend That Morning never happened—because I think I’ve made up my mind where Tuck McCoy is concerned.
26
TUCK
