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I needed to get over it, though. She was my friend’s little sister. All the guys in the group considered her an honorary sister. And beyond that, we were friends. Sure, watching Kayla and Austin stop dancing around one another and admit they were in love had been great. They were living, breathing proof that friends could turn to more without ruining things.
But how likely was it, really?
“Hey, man.”
I spun. “Wes? Hey. What are you doing here?”
Wes pointed to the restaurant. “Probably the same as you? Getting dinner. I was going to get takeout, but if you’re here, I could eat with you. The patio’s hopping.”
Uh-oh. “I’m actually getting takeout. I told Megan I’d bring her dinner at the bookstore.”
“Yeah? That’s nice of you. Are you going to eat there?” Wes had his hands in his pockets.
“That’s the plan.”
“Cool. Okay if I join y’all?”
I wanted to growl. Or shout, “No!” Instead, I heard myself saying, “Yeah. Of course. More the merrier, right?”
Wes grinned and offered me a fist bump.
I popped my fist against his and pulled back while making the sound of an explosion. I reached for the door and tugged it open, gesturing for Wes to go in ahead of me.
We ordered at the bar. I went ahead and picked up the tab for all three of us. Not that Wes didn’t have the same billions I did, but if I was going to fight with him about something, it wasn’t going to be a twenty-five-dollar entrée.
“How’s the dive shop coming?”
Wes perked up. “Good. I should be able to open in January. At least that’s the plan.”
“So you have your space?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I opted for the bigger one that’s technically outside of Old Town, but still in Alexandria. It’s got the space for me to get an indoor pool in the back.”
“A pool? In a retail space?” How did that even work? I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the idea. Maybe Wes had been spending too much time diving and was suffering from some kind of weird delusions.
Everything about Wes seemed to lift and brighten. “Yeah. It’s going to be so cool. No having to rent time at the community center pool or anything like that for classes. It’s pretty easy to do—even with a retrofit like this. There’s a company who works with a ton of the swim lesson franchises, and now they have the whole thing down.”
“Won’t the whole place smell like chlorine?” I still had less than amazing memories of the indoor pool at the Y where I’d learned to swim when I was little. I shuddered. “And the humidity?”
“Nah, man. That’s old school, but it’s not like that anymore.” Wes shook his head to underscore his words. “No smell and the pool is in a separate temperature zone, so while it’s a little more humid in the pool area, that won’t permeate the rest of the shop.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I couldn’t picture it, but I guessed I didn’t have to.
“You’ll see. I need to get info on Noah’s architect. I’d like her to help with the design, if she will. I think I can have a classroom, the main retail space, and the pool.”
“The space is that big?”
He nodded. “I think it’ll work.”
“Cool.”
A server came by with a giant paper bag. She set it on the bar. “Gentlemen, here’s your food. Enjoy your evening.”
“Thanks.” I reached for the bag. “Oh. Strawberry lemonade? Can I get that to go? I was supposed to ask.”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.” The server hurried off.
“Sorry.”
