Page 19 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

“I’m sorry about all this,” Allison said, and Ryan sighed.

“Thank you. I’m just grateful you and Brooklyn have both been so good to me. Brooklyn likes to spoil people a little, huh?”

I plated up the pancakes with some strawberry jam and a little clotted cream, bringing them over to the table. “Compliment me more, please,” I said, and Ryan nudged my side.

“I appreciate somebody who communicates their wants and needs clearly. So for a compliment… this looks delicious.”

Allison arched an eyebrow, and I didn’t need the commentary. She was probably going to interpret the exchange as flirting… I couldn’t argue there was an energy between me and Ryan, but she’d just dumped her cheating boyfriend, and I wasn’t going to make a move on her.

I also wasn’t going to say no if she made a move on me, to be clear.

“See?” I said, looking back at Allison. “Complimenting me is that easy. Thanks, Ryan.”

Allison laughed, rolling her eyes. “You just spoil someone because you want to hear them say nice things about you.”

“Well,” Ryan said, as I slid into the seat next to her, “if so, then she’s doing well spoiling us both. She tells me she took you under her wing too so she can make fun of you for not knowing how to talk to girls.”

I suppressed a snort, and Allison’s jaw dropped, shooting me a look. “Oh my god, is that the kind of thing you tell people about me when I’m not around?”

I put my hands up. “Hey, to be fair—it’s also what I tell people about you when you are around.”

“Okay, touché, asshole,” Allison laughed, rounding on Ryan again with zero subtlety. “Okay, so, does that mean you’re gay too? Brooklyn didn’t answer and told me to ask you.”

Ryan tensed up, just a little bit, a blank look on her face. I gave Allison a polite smile. “She just now broke up with her boyfriend. You can wait a minute before trying to hit on her.”

“Ew—I’m not hitting on her.”

Ryan spoke through a light smile. “Oh, so I’mew,am I?”

Allison made a face at her. “What, do you want me to hit on you?”

“Hm.” Ryan sipped her coffee pointedly. “You’re not exactly my type.”

Allison laughed. “Because I’m a girl, or because of everything else?”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Allison, have you ever met subtlety?”

Ryan looked away. “You just seem a bit young…”

“Yeah, just hanging out with the old fossils. So, what, you like an older woman?”

Ryan blushed, looking down at her coffee with an awkward expression. She was so cool and calm about absolutely everything else that it was kind of adorable seeing the way she got embarrassed and shy when it came to her sexuality, and I was about to cut in trying to save her when she said, “I, uh, I don’t know… I think I just prefer to date around my age. That’s probably a boring answer.”

Allison smiled wider. “So, other fifty-year-old ladies?”

“Excuse you,” Ryan laughed. “I’m twenty-six, thank you very much!”

Allison tried to suppress her smile, which only made it stand out more. “Oh, same age as Brooklyn,” she said, her voice just a little pointed, and I kicked her foot under the table. She made a face. “Ow. What are you kicking me for?”

“Because you sprawl all over the floor under the table like you’re doing an interpretive dance while you eat. Be normal,” I laughed.

Allison stuck out her tongue at me before turning back to Ryan. “So, what else did BB tell you about me?”

“That…” She speared a forkful of food, casting her eyes up to the ceiling. “That she bullies you into going rock climbing even though you hate it with every fiber of your being.”

“Okay, yup. I hear you’re going next time so I don’t have to suck the worst of everyone there.”

Ryan smiled wider. “Just because I’m new doesn’t mean I’ll be the worst at it.”

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