Page 63 of All For You
“Do you need any help?” I asked Tryston, who was still analyzing the nutritional information on the cartons.
He chuckled and admitted that he did. “I’m just trying to see if either of these contain Red Dye 40. I’m allergic.” He held out both containers, and I noticed they were plain vanilla. Which was a little boring, though no less delicious.
Leaning forward, I glanced over the ingredients, not finding the offensive additive. While subtly leaning closer, I tried to hide the fact that I was sniffing him, just because I’d always wondered what he smelled like. His cologne was light, almost like the ocean. Nothing nearly as intoxicating as what Owen wore. I wanted to bathe in that scent.
“I think you’re safe with either. Though, I particularly like the one made with vanilla bean.”
Tryston met my smile and moved toward the freezer. It was when he turned back around that I saw he placed my recommendation back. He didn’t seem to notice my disappointment.
“Alice, right?”
“Actually, it’s Aspen. I get that a lot though,” I lied as I continued to try to hold a conversation with someone I hadn’t known my whole life. My frustration was growing by the second at Tryston’s disinterest in anything I said.
This was why I kept to myself. Small talk was hard.
“Fun things planned tonight?” he asked, gesturing toward my basket.
“Yeah. Girls’ night with my friend Jenna.”
“Well, have fun,” he said as he smiled and strolled away toward the registers, leaving me standing in the freezer section with mixed feelings.
Back in my car, still confused over the interaction with the guy I had crushed on for a year, I tilted my head back against the headrest. I always imagined my first real interaction with Tryston would leave me breathless, flustered. I’d been building it up like a mountain of attraction that ended up being more like an ant hill. While collecting my thoughts, I received a text from Owen asking if I wanted some company that night. He’d been at the high school gym all day, working with Kelsey. I was sure hewas sore and exhausted, but I found myself tempted to cancel with Jenna.
But I needed her opinion.
Declining his invitation, I thought back to Owen’s arrival in Ashfield. He’d been here for almost a month now, and I felt like I’d been exposed to all new sides of him. A caring side. A dominant side. An affectionate side. He may have had them all when he grew up here, but I’d never witnessed them. I needed to talk all this through with my best friend, since he and I were truly giving this a go instead of it being all pretend.
Starting up my car, she shuddered a couple of times before the ignition caught, and I headed toward Jenna’s.
My friend didn’t live far from Rory’s house, where Owen was staying. By the time I arrived, I had another message from him saying he was going to hang with his high-school friend, Chris.
Chris Mathewson was the only one of his friends who had always been nice to me, never once joining in on the teasing or antics that Owen’s clique partook in. His wife had been the leader of our debate team, and the two of them now had the most adorable little girl. I was glad Owen was taking some time to see his friend. As far as I knew, if he wasn’t with me, Owen had mostly kept to himself since being home, besides hanging with his old coach and the neighbor’s kid, Roman.
I let myself into Jenna’s, carrying my bags over and setting them on her kitchen counter. We were going to order pizza from Angelo’s for dinner, but that didn’t stop me from pulling out a large spoon from a drawer and helping myself to a dollop of ice cream before I set the carton in the freezer.
“I saw that,” Jenna claimed as she stepped from the hall with a mask of pink goop covering her face.
“Just my appetizer,” I explained as the doorbell rang. Jenna yipped as she darted back down the hall, leaving me to answer her door.
Thankfully, she already paid for the pizza, and I carried it into her living room, placing it on the coffee table. By the time she joined me with a freshly cleansed face, I poured us each a glass of wine and had our favorite reality show paused on the television.
I rarely had time to watch shows, but she got me hooked on the series now on its tenth season. The showHidden in Plain Sightfollowed an A or B-List celebrity as they worked like us common people undercover. Most of the time, the normal people on the show had no idea until the end, but every once in a while, someone would catch on.
This season had been my favorite so far. The celebrity was Chase Duran, one of the most famous action stars in the world and the lead of my favorite movie franchise. He was falling hard for his younger female associate at the library where they worked. She seemed to be clueless. And I was waiting for the episode where he confessed his feelings.
“Oh good, you have the show ready. It’s been killing me not to watch the last episode,” Jenna told me as she settled on the couch with a slice of pizza.
“I seriously hope he confesses this week. I’m dying to know if she likes him too.”
“She has to. What’s not to like?”
“True, but I have a feeling Zoey isn’t going to care for being lied to, or that he’s a celebrity. I mean, Chase has one of the most recognizable faces in the world.”
“You’re right. Speaking of dating a celebrity. How are things with you and Owen?”
“Good,” I replied hesitantly. I’d been trying to come up with a way to ask Jenna for advice about Owen and my non-conversation with Tryston without giving away the fact that Owen and I weren’t actually together—exceptnowwe were. But we still hadn’t talked about what would happen when he left, so maybe we were only together for right now.
Whatever we were confused the hell out of me.
