Page 27 of Break My Heart
‘You don’t need to. I’m over it.’ She takes a fritter from the bagand takes another bite. ‘These are really good, like I-can’t-stop-eating-them good.’
‘I’m glad you like them. So what do you say? Tonight? Maybe around eight?’
‘Friday’s our busiest night. I have to work. And so do you.’
Shit, that’s right. I wasn’t even thinking about that. I was so eager to have dinner with her that I forgot about the brewery. What the hell’s wrong with me?
‘How about four? Hardly anyone shows up then, and if they do, our employees can handle it.’
She stares at me. ‘You want to eat dinner at four in the afternoon?’
‘I’d rather eat later, but if four is our only option, let’s do it then.’
‘Yeah, I don’t think so. I need to be here working. Speaking of work, I need to get back to it.’
‘How about lunch? We could go at noon and you could be back here by one.’
‘Sawyer, you don’t have to do this. I don’t care what happened this morning. I’m already over it. You don’t need to take me to lunch as some kind of apology. We’re good.’
‘What if it isn’t about that? What if I just want to take you out? Get to know you?’
‘Why would you want to get to know me?’ she asks, suspiciously.
‘We both like beer. We both like brewing it. Maybe we could be friends.’
She laughs. ‘You and me? Friends?’
‘Why not?’
‘Well, for one, you made it clear how much you can’t stand me. You’re probably hoping I’ll fail so I’ll leave town and you’ll never have to see me again.’
‘Hey.’ I back away, holding my hands up. ‘I was just trying to be nice, but if you really feel that way, I’ll leave you alone.’
I’m heading back around to the front when I hear her voice.
‘How about a race?’
I turn back. ‘What?’
‘A canoe race. We could meet tomorrow at the lake. Seven o’clock.’
I walk back to her. ‘You want us to meet for a canoe race? Is this a joke?’
‘No.’ She smiles and my damn heart beats faster. ‘I kind of miss our competitions. You were the only person who actually tried to beat me instead of giving up halfway in.’
‘A canoe race. At seven in the morning. That’s really what you want to do?’
‘Yeah. I think it’d be fun.’
‘They don’t even rent canoes that early. The place doesn’t open until ten. And actually, I think they’re closed for the season. They close after Labor Day.’
‘The canoes are still there. We’ll just use them and put them back. Who’s going to know?’
I took one of those canoes back in high school and got caught and had to pay a fine. It wasn’t much, maybe twenty bucks. I’d be willing to risk having to pay the fine again, but I really don’t want to race her. It’ll be like camp all over again. Is that why she’s doing this? To humiliate me again?
What am I saying? I’m not seven anymore. I’m a grown man, and a lot bigger and stronger than her. I could easily beat her in a canoe race.
‘You’re on,’ I say. ‘But I’d still like to take you to lunch.’
