Page 31 of Safe With Me

Foolish and dangerous, but nice.

“I thought I’d seen you by the bar earlier,” a familiar voice said behind us. “I turned around, and you were gone.”

“Yeah, everyone is by the bar,” Mike said. “That’s why we needed some distance.”

Aaron, Mike’s mechanic best friend, stood next to a beautiful woman with olive skin and long, wavy black hair, petite enough to not even reach Aaron’s shoulders.

“Hey, Lila. Tire working okay?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, thank you. I told Mike it was lucky that he knew the mechanic in town.”

“He’sknownme since freshman year of high school.” Aaron snickered at Mike. “The shop was originally owned by my uncle. I worked there all through school, and he gifted it to me after I graduated college.”

“Wow, that’s great,” I said, genuinely impressed.

“Thanks. We expanded and added a body shop a couple of years ago, but my father always comments how he didn’t think I’d want to be in town forever.” He shook his head and jabbed Mike’s arm. “Our parents had such high hopes, but we threw them all away to stay here.”

I laughed at Aaron’s exaggerated sigh.

“My father was happy that I settled here. Becoming a cop, now that’s a different story.”

Mike’s frustrated exhale reminded me of my conversation with Jake earlier this afternoon. What went on here to make Jake worry so much in what seemed like a very wholesome, safe small town?

“This is my wife, Selena,” Aaron said, drawing her into his side.

“Very nice to meet you,” she said, draping her arm around Aaron’s waist while extending a hand.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“They’ve been together since freshman year of high school,” Mike said, nodding toward them.

“Oh wow,” I said. “That’s very sweet.”

“Thank you,” Selena said, burrowing into Aaron’s side. “Most people tell us we’re boring since we’ve more or less only dated each other.”

“More or less, huh?” Aaron said, scowling down at his wife. “We said hello to who we had to, and now we’re ready to step away and get something to eat.”

“We were about to do the same thing. You could join us if you want,” Mike said before turning to me. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” I said, happy and relieved to both eat and get away from the crowd for at least a little while.

“The festivals are nice here, but a lot,” Selena said as we settled at a table. “Even when you live here. I guess it’s because you rarely see so many of us out at once.”

I’d lost track of most of my friends from high school and college, aside from Ally, and while it was great to share my total history with someone, I wasn’t sure how I’d like sharing it witheveryoneI met, all the time.

“So, how are you liking Kelly Lakes so far? And how many times have people asked you that question?” Aaron snickered.

“It’s good. And maybe a few times.” I smiled, so much more relaxed with food in my stomach and most of the crowd behind us. “Mike introduced me to a few people tonight, so I now know a few outside the Russo circle.” I shot a quick smile at Mike.

“The Russo circle is pretty large,” Aaron quipped. “In fact, I think you guys are like the town nucleus,” he said, pointing at Mike before tipping back his drink. “Like, there’s your dad, your aunt, and your cousins, and then everybody kind of branches out from you guys.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Mike said, rolling his eyes at him. “We are not the nucleus. This town is all kinds of connected.” Mike nudged my side with his elbow. “You’ll see.”

“Well hey, guys. Fancy seeing you where everybody else is.”

A tall man with inky black hair approached our table, dragging his gaze over us until his eyes landed on me.

“Hey, Jared,” Mike said, his smile fading as Jared came closer.

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