Page 36 of Sunsets & Other Dangerous Things

“For being your wingman, obviously.” He lifted his coffee to his lips and gave her a saucy look, doing something funny with his eyebrows. She wasn’t sure she liked it.

“Wingman?” She hadn’t meant to shout the word. The couple at the table in the other corner looked over at them. Esther ducked her head to the level of her coffee, as though a lower elevation would save her from observation. “What do you mean wingman?” she hissed.

Uther opened his mouth to answer.

“That’s fish and chips for you.” A poorly timed server dropped a basket of fried things in front of Uther, whose eyes grew wide and shiny. Esther shot back up in her seat. “And quesadilla for the lady. Anything else I can get you?”

“No,” she snapped.

“I think we’re good for now.” Uther gave a charming smile, and the server left.

When she was sure he was out of earshot, Esther started again. “What do you mean wingman?”

“I mean, okay, so I was a little drunk at the time….” He paused, looked at the items on the ceiling, then crammed a steaming chunk of battered and fried fish in his mouth, pointing to his face and shaking his head.

Esther glared at him. “You can’t chew forever.”

He did his best.

She started in on a slice of her quesadilla while waiting, and unfortunately it was quite cheesy and delicious, and she couldn’t hate Uther for ordering something she actually liked.

Finally, he swallowed and reached for another bite of fish.

“Uther, I’m warning you”—she shot a finger at his face—“if you take one more bite, I will make sure you regret it.”

He gulped, but his hand dropped from the basket. “Okay, so don’t hate me.”

“That’s not an encouraging way to start a story.”

“Yeah, well, that wasn’t a promise to not hate me.” He took her plate and divided their food, shoving a generous pile of fries onto hers. “So, you know how we’re both amazing people, but we’re also kind of wallflowers?”

“Just get to the point.”

Uther pushed her plate, now piled with food, back to her side of the table. “You don’t talk about personal stuff, Esther. And that’s totally fine. You don’t owe anyone your backstory.” He paused to eat a fry. “It’s just that we’ve been friends for a year and you haven’t opened up about anything. So, I figured it was me and maybe if you had a more outgoing friend, you would feel comfortable talking to them. And you and Ashley, I thought I saw something there. Some natural chemistry.”

“That’s not—” But she didn’t know how to finish that thought. She didn’t open up because she didn’t open up. No one was interested, and she shouldn’t be imposing more on people’s lives. If she shared personal anecdotes, the next thing you knew, she’d be giving advice and someone could get hurt. She could ruin lives, and she couldn’t be responsible for that again.

He waved off her half-comment. “I was drunk and not thinking straight. I saw Ashley being so comfortable in a crowd and everyone engaging with her and thought, hey, why not hook Esther up with a better friend? So, when she fell in the pool, it seemed like the perfect chance…”

“Uther.” She took his hand. The warmth of it startled her. Had they ever done this before? They weren’t hand-holding friends. She took her hand back again. Touching was too much. “You’re already a better friend.”

But that wasn’t enough. Uther was right. She was holding back, and maybe it was fine to trust him with her secrets. She was struck with the sudden realization she could lose him—his friendship—and she didn’t want that.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to fish for compliments, but thanks all the same.” He plucked a fry from the pile. “So how was the ride? You got her number, right?”

“She kissed me.”

Uther coughed on his bite of fry. “She did what? Do I need to have a word with her? I mean, she was drunk, but that’s no excuse to get handsy without consent.”

“No, not last night.” She wasn’t sure what made her mention the kiss. Clearly, the whole agreeing-to-be-Ashley’s-pretend-girlfriend was a more pressing matter. Or maybe the whole vampire thing. Maybe all of it was a pressing matter and she should start from the beginning. “She kissed me about a month ago. While we were both sober. I’ve had her number for over a month now.”

“Oh. Oh!” His gaze flickered across her face, assessing. “Esther, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were avoiding her. I never would have… I would have called someone else to get her. I swear. I just thought…”

“No, no! I wasn’t avoiding her.” She bit her lip. How to explain that Uther’s call to get Ashley, to be in a vehicle with Ashley like they were people that rode in vehicles together, had shot through Esther’s system faster than coffee ever had?

Uther nodded and ate some more of his fish, giving her time before asking, “Did you want to talk about it?”

She nibbled at a fry. “What do you mean?”

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