Page 37 of Love's a Glitch
“Deal.” I was forever making deals with this woman, and for the first time ever, I wished I was the type of guy who could make a bigger one—the one she was obviously searching for her life.
At the same time, gratitude flowed through me that the hourglass on our time hadn’t run out of sand quite yet.
I lifted the empanada, took a bite, and groaned at the flavors that had me recalling my time in Argentina and why I couldn’t give those experiences up. I blew on the open end before offering it to Ellie.
Desire surged at the way her lips wrapped around the meat-filled pastry, and then I was fighting the urge to abandon everything I’d just said, throw caution to the wind, and offer promises of more that I knew I’d never be able to keep.
18
Ellie
Paddy’s Gaslight Pub was packed to the brim tonight. Most Fridays, it ended up fairly busy eventually, but Penny, Cat, and I met early enough to get our typical table near the front. The bartenders knew our names and our usual dinner and drinks, and they sometimes had live music.
I hadn’t seen any flyers, though, and as I pushed through the packed-tight bodies, I wondered if the pub was putting on an event. They’d once hosted a pajama night, and I’d shown up in my pink unicorn onesie pajamas. Stardust was for bike riding and other sports, but Moondust was for sleeping.
Other women went for lingerie, and hey, good for them for being confident and wearing the lacy negligées and rocking the hell out of them. But I was a realist, as well as way too cold in February to wear that little clothing without the side effect of chattering teeth, so Moondust had been out in all her glory, slippers, hoodie and all.
St. Patrick’s Day drew this type of crowd, as they went all out on the holiday that’d inspired the bar’s namesake, but it was over a month ago. Also, the night I got drunk enough to text Dildo, come to think of it.
I pulled out my phone to see if I’d blanked out a holiday.
Then I forgot all about holidays. Luke had sent a text with a photo. I opened the message, beaming at the image filling my screen.
Luke had on a Pokémon shirt, a red sequin bowtie, and a magician’s cape that begged so many questions I wasn’t sure where to start. Aarón stood next to him, wearing a red sequined vest that’d clearly come with the bowtie and a cape suited for a vampire. The two of them were posed like they were in a prom photo, Aarón’s hand on Luke’s shoulder, displaying a fanned-out deck of cards. Judging from the baby face that lacked even a hint of scruff, Luke must’ve been a freshman or a sophomore in high school, and his grin was so wide his eyes were scrunched closed.
Luke:Embarrassing enough?
Luke:It took me a while to dig it out of the archives. Pretty sure I woke up a mummy while I was up in the attic, too, but when’s that ever gone wrong?
A whirlwind startedlow in my gut, spreading happiness as it picked up speed. We hadn’t talked since Wednesday night. Two days of going without Luke and I’d panicked I was going to get ghosted again, and if he ever thought of me, I’d just be remembered as that weird girl who’d texted her ex and overshared her disastrous dating experiences.
“Ellie!”
I turned in the direction my name had been called, a frown tugging at my mouth as I bobbed and weaved my way toward the end of the bar. I didn’t realize I was glaring at the people occupying our usual table until one of them met my gaze and brought up his shoulders.
“Sorry,” I muttered, attempting a smile that only had the dude peering at me with more concern. He then draped his arm over the woman next to him, as though I should take the hint that he was single, and I decided he deserved the dirty look.
I took the few steps past our table to where my friends had snagged three stools and shouted over the din of the bar. “What’s going on?”
“It’s national wine day,” Penny said, patting the stool they’d saved for me between her and Cat. I worked to follow the logic, as Paddy’s wine menu was as short as the ceramic leprechaun on the bar that held up the chalkboard with the day’s specials. “To drum up business, Paddy’s posted they’d give a free pint of the black stuff to anyone who came in and ordered anything other than wine. As you can see, people showed up in droves.”
I glanced around, noting all the foam-topped glasses. “And Archer didn’t want to come take advantage? Isn’t he a Guinness guy?”
“It’s girls’ night,” she said with a shrug. “Although, full disclosure, he’s at a restaurant a couple of blocks away. He met this guy through the new project he’s working on, and he asked if it was too soon to call him. Isn’t that so cute? They’re on a friends’ date to see if they can hang and be bros or whatever—not that he appreciated me calling it that when I teased him about it. The two of them will probably swing by later for a glass, but he promised he’d wait patiently at another table until I was ready to go.”
Admittedly, with Penny and Archer officially together, I’d fretted over the possibility of losing our girls’ nights. Cat didn’t need people and outings as much as I did, and while I understood our lives would perpetually go in various ways and it’d get harder to find time, we’d spent most of our Friday nights at Paddy’s since becoming friends in college. Without them to look forward to, the weeks would seem even longer.
Back in the day, when we’d first started the tradition, I tended to dream up next-to-impossible scenarios where I met the perfect guy here at Paddy’s. Why did finding the good dudes have to be as much work as the other parts of a relationship? Anyway, I’d gone home discouraged a few times, but had experienced much less of that after giving up on the idea of finding a decent guy at the bar.
After placing my drink order, I snuck my phone out of my pocket, studied Luke’s picture again, and composed a reply.
Ellie:I have a question, and your answer will change the course of everything. Close up
magic, or… ok, I don’t know the other kinds of magic. It looks like YOU do, though?? ?? ??
Luke:Did I ask you what brand of toilet you were puking into when you sent me an embarrassing photo? No. So how dare you—it’s called stage magic, & for the record, I was just the assistant. Aarón BEGGED me to be in the talent show with him (aka, I volunteered but don’t want to admit that) & it was as disastrous as it sounds.
Ellie:And the Pokémon shirt?
