Page 3 of Stealing Sunshine

After disinfecting the table, I take my makeshift station down quickly. The two women linger while I work, talking about their plans for tonight at Peakside, the only bar in town. Every Saturday, a giant group of us steals a table and stays until closing.

Over the past couple of years, less and less of us have stayed that long, though. Anna and Brody are getting married and have better things to do than hang around at a bar until the morning, and Poppy and Garrison can’t make it more than a few hours without fucking, so they’re out early.

Even Johnny, the town’s sunshine cowboy with a mouth that rarely stops moving, isn’t interested in staying late anymore. Not since he found Aurora and convinced her to give him a shot. He’s had her on lock ever since.

It’s been a long year of watching overly touchy and at times obnoxiously happy couples twist up our friend group. We’re a far cry from what we used to be, and as one of the last single people around, it’s becoming tiresome to go out with them every weekend.

I’m happy for them. Really. It just makes my lack of a dating life a bit more noticeable.

“Who’s driving tonight?” Poppy asks once we’ve headed upstairs.

The stairs are old and creaky, the kind you find in a horror film with a blonde screeching while running from a possessed nun. I leave the basement light on at all times. Fuck my power bill. As someone who believes in all things paranormal, I’m too big of a wimp to ever turn the light off. Especially not while going up these creepy-ass stairs.

“Anna,” I say.

She stops at the top of the stairs and glances at me. “Why is it always me?”

“Because we have to get our use of you in the summer, considering you’re the world’s worst winter driver,” I state.

After bumping the door shut with my hip, I lead the way into my tiny bathroom to grab a couple of pain pills for Poppy.

“For your ass. We’ll be sitting tonight, and the skin will still be pretty raw,” I say before extending them to her with a flat palm.

“Thanks, Ice.” She takes them from me eagerly before we step into the kitchen.

My fridge is as full as it ever is—and by that, I mean empty as fuck—when she grabs one of the half-drunk Fanta bottles from inside to help her swallow the pills.

“So, I don’t think either of us are going to be driving tonight. You were right, Poppy. Garrison’s leaning against Brody’s truck with a scowl,” Anna calls from the living room.

Spinning, I find her staring out my front window, which has been illuminated by the shine of headlights flashing down the street. I roll my eyes at the two men.

You’d think neither of them has ever had to leave Poppy or Anna before. How clingy can you get?

“Sorry, Bryce. Believe it or not, I did tell him to just meet us there,” Poppy says, even though there’s no disguising how happy she is to see him.

“Doesn’t matter as long as there’s room for me in that godawful fucking truck.”

Anna gasps, her head whipping back, eyes wide. “Don’t let Brody hear you say that. He thinks of that truck as a child.”

“Congratulations. It has your eyes,” I mutter before finding a pair of black boots and shoving my feet into them.

The other two finally peel themselves from the window and follow suit, and five minutes later, we’re all stuffed inside the truck.

I tune out the sound of Garrison’s dirty whispers from the opposite seat in the back as he squeezes Poppy’s knee and twist to stare out the window.

Soon enough, I’ll be able to sneak off to drink my cocktail alone and, for a few blessed minutes, not be constantly reminded that I’m destined for a life of singleness.

2

DAISY

I’ve never been more grossedout by my brother than I have this weekend.

I don’t know why I thought staying with him and his girlfriend would work. Not with how every encounter I’ve ever had with them this past year has just been me third wheeling and listening to their sloppy kissing noises.

Johnny is my twin and, in turn, my best friend. But he’s still gross as hell. Only now, it isn’t because of the lack of showering or burping loudly in silence but because he’s a stage five stalker obsessed with his girlfriend to the point of near insanity.

Still, Aurora is a good match for him.

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