Page 28 of Austen Persuaded

I didn’t want to think about why this time might be different. Still, it could be worth a try, and if I drank a little more, I might not care who was who or what was what. I could just tell the guys I’d meet them later …

But then I looked at Rafael, my best friend for over half of my life, and there was no question. “Anything for you, Raf.”

I licked my slippery lips, sighing with pleasure. “How did I go 26 years of my life without ever trying Becky’s amazing waffles?” The surprisingly delicious fare was doing its job of soaking up some of the alcohol I was now ready to admit I’d overindulged in … not for the first time lately.

“Comfort food at its finest,” Rafael said, wiping egg yolk off his chin. “I’m so glad you convinced me to get both the runny eggs and the pancakes. And the biscuits. Though the server probably thinks we’re high.”

“She probably thinksyouare, Raf. But look at him,” I said, pointing to Rainn. “She’s had her eye on Rainn the whole time. And he looks like … like he eats like this every day.”

Rafael and I dissolved into a fit of giggles as Rainn shifted uncomfortably in his seat. To be sure, part of his athletic good looks was genetic, and part of it was hard work lifting at the gym and running on the trails. I loved that he was modest and even awkward when anyone talked about how well-built he was. Every other guy I’d ever met who looked like Rainn had been anything but modest. It was initially part of their appeal, but it quickly soured when I realized they were usually not nice human beings or had nothing in their brains other than exercise plans. Though I hated to stereotype, of course.

Because I hated being stereotyped myself.

I was the fun, perky, hot redhead party girl to most people. I often leaned into it. It was practically my birthright, or so my mother had drilled into me since, well, always. But sometimes I was just so tired of it all. Itwasme, but it wasn’t. I frowned. That made no sense.

“Jokes aside,” Rafael said, putting his fork down. “Annie, talk to us.”

The time had come, and there was no use avoiding it. I could try, but it would only delay the inevitable, and then it would probably just seem like I was making an even bigger deal out of it. Which … maybe it was too late for that already.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly and then slammed my juice for fortitude. “I’m guessing I mentioned an old flame in one of my fever dreams. Is that right?”

Rainn nodded as he finished chewing his silver dollar pancake. “More than once.”

I swallowed the embarrassment down. “Right. Well, I—I’m pretty sure that’s only because I’d happened to see an Instagram updatefrom him. One of the days I was sick, I think I was scrolling mindlessly or something and saw his post. And then it got stuck in my head. That’s all it was. Case closed.”

Rafael could always see into my soul, so I tried to look away. “Annie, can you even say his name?”

My lips parted and then wavered. “Of—of course I can.” My breath felt shallow as I forced myself to say it. “It’s … Kylan.” My voice, saying that name, sounded strange to my own ears. “Rainn, he’s just an old fling from college, so maybe I haven’t mentioned him to you. Pretty insignificant, really—”

“Annie, stop,” Rafael said, his eyes piercing through my shield. “We’re your friends. I don’t know the whole of what you felt or what you still feel, but to say it was insignificant …puh-lease. Don’t lie to us or to yourself.”

Rainn looked from Rafael to me. His brows were creased, as though he expected me to lash out at Rafael in return.

But I only dropped forward, my face in my hands and my hair just barely avoiding touching my greasy plate.

“He’s coming to town. Here.” I raised my head briefly to add, “I mean, he’s probably already here.”

The guys nodded sympathetically, instead of looking surprised.

“You knew?”

“I did,” Rafael confirmed.

I looked back and forth between them, my mouth struggling to form words. “Wha—how?”

Rafael glanced down at his recently manicured nails, painted royal blue with thin black and green stripes. “I saw him.”

I nearly jumped out of my seat. “Youwhat? You saw him and didn’t tell me?”

“I would have told you,” Rafael said calmly, “but you’ve been holed up in your room for days, and you didn’t want to talk, especially about him.”

“It’s true. He did—” Rainn started.

“Where did you see him?” I asked slowly, still in shock and feeling pretty sober by this point.

“He was at the little park just across the bridge, with his bike.”

I paled, remembering our long weekend bike rides back in college. And trying not to. And then it sank in—across the bridge?I gasped. “The park that’s like three blocks from our apartment?” I watched in disbelief as Rafael nodded. “You can’t be serious. He was that close to where we live?”

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