Page 16 of Hometown Hottie

8

CARSON

Considering that Moe’s was where everyone our age hung out in this town, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see Nova here tonight, but it still came as a pleasant one. Positioning myself so I’d be able to see her without being overly obvious about staring at her, I sipped my beer and tried my best not to roll my eyes at the way Vance was soaking in all the adoration we were getting.

I stayed put for a while, watching as she laughed with Cassidy, not once looking over at us. Go figure that the woman I want attention from is the only one not giving it to me.

That was Nova, though. Always doing her own thing. Eventually, I got bored of waiting for her to spare me a glance and made my way over there, knowing I was playing with fire but not caring. Ryan wasn’t out tonight and all I was going to do was say hi. No law against that.

Cassidy saw me coming and jumped up almost immediately, grabbing their empty beer bottles from the table and flashing me a coy smile when I reached them. “Hey, Carson. I’ll be back in a few. Just need to get some more drinks. Have fun.”

She even winked at me as she walked away, and I laughed as I took the seat she’d just vacated. “What was that all about?”

Nova’s eyes sparkled with unshed laughter and maybe a bit of exasperation as she shrugged at me. She looked gorgeous as ever in a plain yellow sundress and her hair cascading in loose waves down her shoulders. She wasn’t done up, her makeup almost nonexistent and her hair simply loose rather than crunchy with hairspray or straightened to twigs.

I appreciated the effort women made just as much as the next guy, but there was something about her being so comfortable with going natural that just got to me.

She shrugged. “Cass got it in her head that you were staring at me. I think she’s not so subtly trying to give us some time alone.”

“I was staring at you,” I admitted easily. “Remind me to thank her later for giving us a couple minutes to catch up.”

“Catch up, huh?” she asked, unable to fight the disbelieving smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. “Why would we need to catch up, Carson? It’s not like we were ever friends.”

My hand flew to my chest and I gripped it. “Ouch. That’s not the way I remember it. I remember us being friends. Good friends, in fact. The best, for a while there.”

“That wasn’t friendship, Drake. It was hormones.” She cocked her head at me, that smile still playing on her beautiful mouth as she looked into my eyes. “Since that’s not something we should talk about, what exactly do you want to catch up on?”

“We could talk about it,” I said, sliding my forearms onto the table and holding her gaze intently. “You know as well as I do that it wasn’t just hormones, though. I mean, come on. At the very least, it was a thing.”

“I see the big cities have made you real eloquent,” she teased before she let out a soft sigh. “A thing, huh? That’s a good way of putting it.”

“We could always talk about revisiting that thing,” I suggested, my hands itching to close the final couple inches between my fingers and hers.

She shook her head, chuckling and playful rather than taking it seriously. “Do you remember that time my brother kicked your ass for kissing me? Something tells me it’ll be a lot worse if he catches you doing it again.”

“I can take him,” I said confidently. “Besides, I’ve never regretted it. It was worth the black eye, but I didn’t come over here to talk about that or him. I just wanted to check in with you. Find out how you are.”

Her eyebrows inched up. “You did? Uh, okay. I don’t know how to do this though, Carson. I don’t know how to be your friend.”

“It’s easy,” I said. “Just tell me how you’ve been. Pretend I’m Cassidy or something.”

“Pretend you’re Cassidy,” she mused out loud, swiping her tongue across her lips. “Yeah. Okay. I’m game to give it a try. I’ve been good. Busy. Thank you for asking. How about you?”

I grinned at her. “See? That wasn’t so hard. I’ve been good too, Nova. Thank you for asking. Not so busy these days, but hoping to get busier soon. What’s been keeping you so busy?”

“Life,” she said without elaborating. “What are you hoping to get busy with?”

“You,” I joked and laughed when she made her eyes big at me. “What? You can’t blame a guy for trying. You left the door wide open on that one.”

“Touche.” She glanced at the beer I was holding before she snagged it from between my fingers, took a sip, and glanced at the bar where Cassidy was still waiting to be served. When she looked back at me, I arched an eyebrow and she shrugged. “What? You wanted to be friends. Friends share. I know your mother would’ve taught you that.”

I groaned. “Did you have to bring Mom into it?”

She grinned at me. “It’s a small town, Carson. The moms are always in it. There’s no avoiding that.”

My head tilted as I looked right into her eyes. “That’s not entirely true. We managed to keep ours out of it back in the day.”

“Only because it never became more than a thing,” she replied easily, giving back my beer as she jerked her chin toward the bar. “Vance is calling you.”