Page 10 of Shifting Gears

“I’ll get tired when I finally lose,” Dani says with a grin that goes right to Eleanor’s toes even though it isn’t directed at her. She’s wearing that same ballcap from the day they met, over the same ponytail, but this time it’s paired with loose jeans and a much cleaner white T-shirt. The denim has more than a few frayed holes and hangs low on her hips. Her work boots make her footfalls sound heavy on the carpet.

The look absolutely should not be working for Eleanor, and yet her body undeniably heats up as Dani leans back against the pool table to wait for an opponent.

Once again, Eleanor is struck by the ease of Dani’s movement. It’s like she’s never known a day of uncertainty in her life—Dani walks with a loping grace, holding herself with an easy, gentle sort of masculinity that only makes her more appealing. Confident without being cocky. Open and warm and strangely enticing.

The way the T-shirt hugs her frame doesn’t hurt either.

“Come on, leave Ryan alone,” a deeper voice says. Eleanor recognizes Owen, the tow truck driver from Dani’s shop, whenhe slings an arm over Ryan’s narrow shoulders. “Let the man drink in peace.”

Dani sighs, setting the cue down and leaning on it like a walking stick. “Fine. One of these days, I’m going to find someone who puts up a challenge.”

Ryan looks relieved to be released from duty. He empties his glass in a gulp, and Owen refills it from the dregs of the pitcher sitting on the table between them.

“Can we get another pitcher for the sore loser?” Dani calls to the bartender, who doesn’t spare her a glance.

“Go fuck yourself, Cooper,” the bartender calls back, but she’s already grabbing Dani’s order.

“Thanks, Jenny,” Dani singsongs.

Laughter ripples through the bar. Dani is clearly well-known and liked here. Eleanor, in contrast, has rarely experienced anything but indifference, awkwardness, or outright hostility in a large group like this.

And that moment—as Eleanor is staring like an idiot at Dani and her friends—is when Dani notices her.

Inexplicably Dani’s eyes brighten. She sticks a hand in the air, eyes still on Eleanor, and waves.

“Nora! I didn’t expect to see you again!”

The whole table turns to look at Eleanor.

The warm, pizza-scented bar suddenly feels unbearably hot. Eleanor briefly considers running for it, turning on her heel and sprinting back out to the car and pretending this never happened, but Dani is already gesturing her over and Eleanor’s feet seem to be moving of their own volition.

“Dani, hi,” Eleanor says as she draws even with the table, nodding politely at Dani’s friends. “I was just…stopping by for a drink.”

Eleanor hates how breathy her voice sounds to her own ears. Nobody comments on it, though, and Dani’s smile is brightenough that Eleanor might have felt relaxed if she didn’t now have a whole new group of people to socialize with.

“Come sit with us!” Dani insists. Eleanor waves awkwardly as Dani pulls out a chair for her. “You know Owen already, but this is Ryan. Ryan, meet Nora! I fixed her car the other day.”

Owen flashes a warm grin, and Ryan waves jovially, halfway through chugging Owen’s beer.

“He’s terrible at pool, but Ryan’s our resident tech expert as well as a beer thief,” Dani says, clapping Ryan on the shoulder. “He’s the only IT game in town. Mostly meaning that the retirees call him to fix their email.”

“Hey! I help everyone,” Ryan protests, sitting up straighter and setting down the empty glass. “Who fixed your computer last weekend, Dani?”

Dani refills his pint, but only halfway. “And who fixed the alarm system at the shop after you set it off so bad the firefighters came in from Wyvale?”

“…you did,” Ryan admits, slowly deflating back into his seat as a new pitcher lands on the table. “Damn. I was hoping everyone had forgotten about that.”

“My memory is as solid as my pool game,” Dani says, throwing her arms wide in a confident shrug. “I’m unbeatable.”

Eleanor has no idea what possesses her to say it. Maybe it’s the hot, stuffy air of the bar making her lose her sanity or the way Dani is smiling at her in that cocksure but somehow still kind-hearted way that makes Eleanor’s knees a little weak, but before she can stop herself, she’s opening her mouth.

“I doubt that.”

A chorus ofoooohsring around the table. Owen slaps the wooden surface gleefully and points at Dani. “That sounded like a challenge!”

“It sure did,” Dani says, and the impressed look on her face is almost worth Eleanor’s temporary mania. “Wanna play?”

Five minutes later Eleanor is standing across the pool table from Dani with a cue in her hand, about to start a game she’s never tried before.

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