Page 82 of As They Are
I didn’t know what I saw in him. All I knew now was that I regretted the time I wasted on him.
“All right, I have drinks. Coffee for the cutest couple in town.” She smiled at Henry and me, then it fell when she looked at Jude. “And a Bud Light for you.”
Jude didn’t waste time. He grabbed his glass of foamy liquid and drank it, but then his eyes bugged out.
“I’ve ... never had it taste like that before.”
“I thought it was your favorite?” Tammy tilted her head, looking like the pinnacle of innocence.
Henry used his free hand to hide his mouth, but I could have sworn he was smiling.
“It’s good,” Jude said, eyes on the camera. “Best I’ve ever had.”
“Glad I could scrounge one up for you.” Tammy pulled out her notepad and took our orders. Henry and I didn’t need the menu since we knew what we wanted, but Jude made a big show of asking about all of the best meals.
Tammy’s lips were fixed in a permanent frown by the fourth question.
“What about the burger? Is it butchered locally or ...”
“Cain would kill anyone who suggests that. He loves his animals more than anything, and they’re only for dairy. These are from a town a little north of here. There’s a big ranch up there.” She tapped her pen. “How about you try one and?—”
“Are they grass-fed?”
She let out a sigh. “I’m not sure. Like I said, you should try it first. It’s good. I promise.”
“Fine. I’ll get a burger.”
Madison cleared her throat in warning. This was getting awkward and fast.
“Coming right up,” Tammy replied. She gave Henry and me a roll of the eyes before she walked off.
“They’re gonna have to cut that,” Henry said under his breath.
“They’ll have to cut most of this, I fear.”
“What’s with the people here?” Jude asked. “Everyone usually loves me.”
“They care about Wren. The other woman you kissed was big news.” Henry’s voice was light, but it had a slight edge to it, like he was as unhappy about what Jude had done as everyone else was.
“But that was?—”
Now Madison cleared her throat harder. There was no talk about fake relationships on camera.
Jude sighed. “I’ll have to change their minds then.”
I wanted to tell him that I doubted the people here would care about his surface-level platitudes. But I kept that fact to myself. Seeing people not be fooled by him was refreshing.
Henry’s thumb ran circles over my knee, reminding me that we’d been touching the entire time. It was easy to pretend that we were sitting in a diner on a date. That we were here and enjoying it, just the two of us.
Oh God, I wanted that, didn’t I?
It would never work out. I had a whole life in the city, one that I was excited to get back to once the library was done. He liked small-town life, and probably didn’t like me that much, if the way he constantly left right when we were done was any indication.
I didn’t enter this thing hoping that we would end up together. I thought that after Jude, I would have learned my lesson.
Apparently not.
Because I was crushinghard.
