Page 120 of The Love Haters

“But I’m not quite sure what Hutch’s type is,” Ginger went on. “What’s your type, Hutch?” she asked, turning his way and resting her chin on her hand.

Hutch looked around the table. “I don’t know,” he said then. “Just… anybody.”

“Anybody?”Benita said. “That’s your type?”

Hutch looked down at his empty plate. “I’ll know her when I see her, I guess.”

Cole volunteered: “Pretty sure his type is the Barbarella on the pinball machine at the Rum Shack.”

Hutch looked unamused. “She’s your type, too.”

“I can’t believe that place hasn’t been shut down,” Cole said, clearly glad to have remembered it. “We should go play pinball. Like old times.”

“Wonderful idea,” Rue said, her eyes bright, clearly loving the notion of the brothers hanging out.

Hutch shook his head.

“Let’s go,” Cole said. He stood, and then he reached out his hand toward me. “Come on.”

I hesitated. My interest in going to a seedy bar to play a Barbarella pinball game—or doing anything unrequired with Cole—waszero.

But what would a girlfriend do?

She’d go. She’dwantto go.

I stood up.

“That place is pretty squalid,” Hutch said, giving me an almost-imperceptible headshake.

But Rue wanted this to happen. “She’ll be fine! Cole will look after her.”

From Hutch’s face, I could see that he was suppressing a response. Probably something like,But Cole can barely look after himself.

Instead, Hutch stood up.

“You’re coming, too?” Cole said.

Hutch rested his dark, miserable eyes on me for less than a second before looking away. Then he said, “I guess I am.”

AT THE BAR,which was indeed squalid, it was pretty clear that Cole and Rue had baited Hutch into going. And it was also clear that I was the bait.

Cole tried to steer us toward Barbarella—but she’d been replaced with Dolly Parton in her cowgirl outfit from9 to 5.

“Okay, Hutch,” Cole said. “Let’s have a pinball contest.”

“No, thanks,” Hutch said back.

“It’sDolly Parton,” Cole cajoled.

“I’m good.”

“Come on, man. Loser buys all the drinks.”

“I don’t drink,” Hutch said.

Cole already knew that. But he said, “Still?”

Hutch glanced at me. “Still,” he said.

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