Page 82 of Coastal Rewind

“Does it have anything to do with the sexy baseball player sleeping in your bed?” Keegan wiggled her brows.

“Girl, we all saw that kiss on national television.” Maggie fanned her face. “Don’t tell Nolan but, god, was I a little jealous.”

Maeve slapped her arm playfully. “Guys, leave her alone. She’s happy. Don’t make her panic.”

I shrugged. “I’m not panicking. Mostly.”

The table erupted in laughter and girlish squeals as they all started asking questions about Mason. I answered them all honestly—avoiding the dirty ones—and I felt this weird warm feeling in my chest.

I was doing girl talk and I wasn’t shrinking into my seat out of embarrassment. This sense of belonging was something I hadn’t felt since I left home at eighteen. For years I wandered around, running from anything that could keep me grounded in fear that if I stopped I would have to face the harsh bitterness of being alone. This life was one I never thought I could have.

Maeve grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the dancefloor. We were jumping around like idiots when a wave of nausea came over me. I had to stop and take a deep breath until it passed. I placed my drink on a side table and walked to order a water. I wasn’t used to drinking this much and it was messing with me. Water in hand, I made my way back to the dance floor.

When Keegan tripped on her own feet trying to walk off the dance floor, we decided we should call it a night.

I was standing outside of the Trojan when Owen pulled up in his black sedan. He parked in front of the bar and got out just as Lottie threw herself into his arms.

Lottie and Owen were good together. She was all chaos to his rule-following calm. She brought him out of his shell and forced him to see that there was more to life than working yourself sick trying to climb the corporate ladder.

I used to be jealous of them, but now I just wanted to get home so I could crawl into bed and fall asleep with the man I was very quickly falling head over sneakers for.

Owen separated himself from Lottie’s mouth and looked over at me. “Do you need a ride?”

I raised my phone in his direction and shook my head. “I ordered a car.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Get in the car, Ry.”

I opened my mouth to argue but Owen pined me with a stare that said he wasn’t taking no for an answer. I canceled my ride and slid into the backseat of his car. Lottie switched the radio to some country pop station and opened the windows. She leaned her head out the window and started singing at the top of her lungs.

Owen looked over at her like she hung the moon. Even in her drunk state, he loved her endlessly.

“I assume you girls had fun?” He laughed as he reached over to put a hand on Lottie’s knee.

“So much fun! We mostly grilled Ryleigh about her hot boyfriend.” Lottie glanced back at me and winked.

“Boyfriend, huh?”

I bit my lip. “We haven’t really talked about labels.”

“That tracks,” he muttered.

I furrowed my brows at him as we locked eyes in the rearview mirror.

“What does that mean?”

His eyes went hard for a moment before he looked away. “Just feels like that would be a mean thing to do to him.”

“Yeah, it would be so horrible for someone to love me.”

“That’s not what I meant, Ry.”

“Then what do you mean?” I snapped at him. If I was in a clear headspace, I would be able to put together what he was insinuating, but I wasn’t. Everything was a little fuzzy, and my cheeks felt warm.

“Never mind.”

“No. Out with it, Owen. Say what you mean.”

He pulled up to Mason’s house and put the car in park. We locked eyes in the mirror again.