Page 114 of Only in Your Dreams

Giving up, I down half my beer in one go.

“You know the worst part in all this?” Summer says, gesturing at Melody with her glass. “I’ve been scouring a hundred-mile radius around this town for a decent man for years, and this one moves back and instantly shacks up with one of our most eligible bachelors.”

My shoulders square with pride.

And they promptly deflate when I remember Summer doesn’t mean me. She means Brooks.

One day I’ll get to do it, right?

Scream about her from the rooftops. Hold her hand everywhere we go, claim her in front of everyone. There’ll be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I’m a guy who gets to fall asleep with her every night. The one on her team, helping her get everything she wants out of life, and then some.

One day she’ll claim me back, and it’ll make the torture of seeing her and Brooks sitting together worth it. I’ll be able to look back on the last ten years of regret, and think: it wasn’t so bad. We just needed time to become the right versions of ourselves. For life to shape us into puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together.

At least, that’s what I have to keep telling myself. The alternative is agony.

“Aw, Sum,” Brooks says, settling an arm over the back of Mel’s chair. “You should have said something. I had no idea you wanted a piece of this.”

In my peripheral vision, I notice Melody’s fingers tap the table. She has her chin in her palm, facing Summer, but she looks at me from the corner of her eye. The second my gaze connects, the corner of her mouth flicks up.

She looks at me like she sensed that I needed it. Like I’m the only person in this crowded bar who matters.

Like we’re puzzle pieces.

“Have you heard at all from Connor since you’ve been home, Mels? Is he back from that trip?” Summer asks, drawing away Melody’s attention.

She takes a few seconds to slowly digest the question, but Mel sits up straight and clears her throat. “Just this morning. He called me. Left a voicemail, sent a text.”

“What does he want?” Parker asks tightly.

“To talk. He says he misses me.”

Fucker.

Summer makes a face. “The balls on this guy. What we need is a good old-fashioned revenge scheme. Show him you’ve moved on with a better, hotter guy—assuming Connor’s less attractive than Brooks, of course.”

Mel’s foot brushes mine under the table. “Can confirm. The new guy is definitely hotter.”

Jesus Christ, I just giggled.

Giggled like a kid whose crush just made passing eye contact from across the school yard.

Parker gives me an odd look from across the table and I settle my face. Melody runs her fingers through her hair, apparently fixated on whatever Summer is saying. But she nudges my foot again. I nudge her back.

She pulls away. A second later, her foot returns minus the shoe, and she slips under the hem of my jeans to tickle my ankle with her sock-covered toes.

And just like that, this hellish night is worth it. Playing footsies with my Clover is the stuff of my fourteen-year-old day dreams.

“Oh, I have the best idea,” Summer says suddenly. I force myself to look at her, pressing my lips together as Mel runs her foot higher up my leg, dragging my pant leg with her. “Let me take a picture of you and Brooks looking all cozy. You should totally send it to Connor.”

Mel licks the corner of her mouth. She’s trying to tickle the back of my knee without moving in her chair, and I’m pretty impressed at the athleticism required to do it. “I don’t know, Sum. My plan is to ignore the hell out of him for the rest of my life.”

“But that’s no fun,” Summer chirps, getting to her feet. “This’ll really show him for thinking he can just breeze in and out of your life. Let him see what a hot couple you make.”

It seems she’s actually fucking serious about this, because Summer rounds the table to stand right behind my chair. She holds her phone out over my head. Presumably because, as the one sitting right across the table from Mel and Brooks, I’ve got the best view of thehot couple.

“Come on,” Summer says brightly. Above my head, she flicks her hand toward Brooks. “Get in his lap, Mels.”

Slowly, I look over my shoulder at this childhood friend of mine who’s suddenly decided to drive a knife into my back, aiming for the heart. Summer gives my deadpan stare a wide, oblivious smile.

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