Page 102 of Bake You Mine
They’d both be swamped well into the new year, which is why they needed to clear the air between them before shit got even more awkward.
“Hey, so are we okay? This is the first chance we’ve had to talk since Friday.” He leaned over to touch her hand.
Before he could, she reached for her glass and swirled the sangria around. “It’s been a wild few days, that’s for sure.”
Their waiter dropped off the focaccia and olive oil.
“Why do I think there’s a big old but coming? You’re avoiding my gaze, Aubs. We’re not returning to where we were before all this, are we?”
She reached for one of the small plates. “No, but I also can’t help but wonder if I’m standing in the way here. If you go to DC, how is this going to work?” She tore off a chunk of bread and sent it through the oil.
“It’s not like we’ll be on different coasts or anything. It’s not that big of a deal. We can get the best of both worlds, you know?”
Her gaze was focused on him. “My life is centered in Port Fortune, now more than ever. You won’t be a two-song drive away anymore.”
“Okay, it’ll take an album or longer. But I’ll still be close enough.”
She lowered her gaze. “That’s true, I guess.”
Thankfully, their conversation turned to lighter topics throughout dinner. Aubrey could make anything enjoyable.
They were halfway through dessert when his phone lit up with one text message after another. He swiped through them on his watch.
“Doors open in twenty minutes. Sasha wants us to hurry up so she can change out of her scrubs.”
Sasha was coming from a last-minute nursing school clinical.
“I thought she knew the band,” Aubrey said. “I figured she’d be able to change in their dressing room.”
He chuckled. “She doesn’t know them like that. Anyway, can we continue this conversation later?” He leaned forward and took both of her hands into his. “I promise I hear you, Aubrey. I won’t make any decision without you.”
Doubt flashed across her beautiful face before she nodded. “Okay. You’re right.”
He’d hold her to her word because he wasn’t about to let a little distance come between them.
thirty-three
“AmI too old to be here?”
Aubrey and Sasha were pressed together on the second balcony of The Anthem. She was the oldest person in the venue by at least five years, if not more.
“Last time I checked, there isn’t an age limit to concerts. Jonesy, the Overnight Stripes’ drummer, is at least forty. This is like his sixth band and his first to take off.”
“Well, that makes me feel a little less like somebody’s mom and more like a cool…” she trailed off. “Okay, I’ll just stop there. You’re not cool if you have to tell everyone you are.”
Sasha laughed. “Youarecool, Aubs. I don’t know why you’re so hard on yourself.”
Aubrey didn’t want to admit to Sasha that the present company made her feel slightly uncool—Sasha, with her winged liner, tight jean shorts, and thigh-high leather boots. Liam was thick in conversation with someone he’d just met, who turned out to be a journalist.
He was a magnet for cool people…and then there was her.
“I just feel like two suburban moms in a trench coat or something. Like everyone can tell I’m a fraud.”
Sasha leaned over the railing. “To be fair, you’re barely one suburban mom at five feet two, let alone two.”
Aubrey laughed. “Sorry, I’m being a downer. I feel out of place.”
“So does everyone, sometimes. Even me, even that doufus back there.” She jerked her head in Liam’s direction. “Luckily, one thing someone told me has always stuck with me, which is that most people are too busy paying attention to themselves ever to notice you. So, you might as well do what you want, huh?”
