Page 78 of Hound Dog
“No, no, he’s right,” Enzo said. “Finn’s never been serious about anyone, so he’s never talked about them much.”
“Exactly! If I was serious, I’d have a hell of a lot more to say.”
Enzo finished off the last bite of her cake and pushed the plate away from herself. “And even though you’re not seeing anyone right now, Addy, when you were dating Dante, you talked about himconstantly.”
Addy’s face soured at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. She grabbed the empty plate and dropped it into the dirty dish tub beneath the bar. “Constantlyis a bit of an exaggeration,” she grumbled.
I drained the last of my Guinness before handing the empty pint glass back to my sister for a refill. “Easy for you to say. Did you hear yourself for that year? I think I heard you say Dante’s name more than I heard you say any of our names.”
Her glare narrowed at me, and she held up the pint glass. “Watch it… I’m the keeper of the beer.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “You’re right, oh Great One. Please don’t take away the nectar of the Gods.”
“That’s more like it,” she muttered and crossed over to pour me another draught.
Enzo leaned into me, lowering her voice. “You know what this whole conversation has proven? You aresointo Haylee. Otherwise, why would you care so much about her boyfriend?”
Dammit. She had me there. I sent her a sideways glance as thunderous applause filled the bar. Her song was over. From center stage, Haylee was bowing, smiling ear to ear.
“Fine,” I admitted. “I like her.”
“You know what else I know?” Enzo said, then didn’t wait for me to press for more. “I know Ben is supposed to come for a visit soon. And I know that Haylee seems awfully nervous about it. Not happy. Not excited.Nervous. That doesn’t exactly strike me as a happy couple.”
“He also hates her dog,” I blurted out.
“There you go,” Enzo said. “I think we’ll all know a lot more after he visits… Haylee included. Until then, it seems like she could really use some friends.”
Her friend. I could do that. I’dbeendoing that. I genuinely liked spending time with Haylee. She was smart, talented, sweet, funny, sporty…
And alsonotavailable.
Notyetanyway.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Haylee
I’d stayedout way too late at Bombshells. The draw of singing for a crowd was just too strong to ignore. The extra fifty dollars didn’t hurt either. It was kind of a nice change to be paid to go to a bar and drink for free.
But I was feeling it today. Even at brunch as I sat down with Enzo and Addy, the residual thrum of a headache at my temples wasn’t going away.
I pressed my fingers against my eyebrows and moaned, waiting for the Ibuprofen I’d taken before leaving Aunt Meryl’s house to kick in.
“How do you not feel like shit?” I asked. “You had just as much to drink as I did.”
Enzo took a haughty sip of her bloody mary. “I actually had two more beers than you did. Which leads me to believe you're what we call… a lightweight.”
Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don’t ya?
I groaned and took another sip from my coffee.
It was kind of nice to have people to hang out with. Especially since, even back home, most of my friends had moved away from Rochester, including Maisie. I was left with Ben’s fraternity brothers and our couple friends, most of whom were fellow lawyers and spouses of lawyers at his firm.
All things considered; I could do a lot worse for friends here in town.
Today’s weather was perfect at seventy-six degrees, so the three of us sat outside at an adorable bistro in town.
I’d chosen to wear a cute sundress and styled my curly hair down, not up in a messy bun. Chances of me running into Finn today were pretty slim, so there was no need to wear my usual man-repellent ugly clothes.
