“You got me there.”
Becca laughed, and I turned toward her. Her laugh was real. It kind of matched her. I was pretty sure she was laughing at my comment, and I liked knowing I’d caused it. Great, I was getting possessive over making her laugh now.
“So what do you think of Clayton Falls so far?” Tom asked her.
She hesitated for a moment. “It’s, uh, different from what I’m used to, but it’s nice.”
“Nice?” Jake asked. “Is that code for ‘get me the hell out of here’?”
She laughed again. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who amused her. “No, it means nice. I say what I mean.”
Molly leaned forward like she was about to let us in on a big secret. “She’s serious about that. Be careful. Don’t ask for her opinion unless you want brutal honesty. I learned that the hard way when I asked her whether I could pull off leggings and Ugg boots.”
Becca sighed. “I don’t see why people ask questions if they don’t want to hear the truth.”
“Maybe they want reassurance, support.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think about filtering them.
“So you’d prefer someone lie to you rather than have them dash your confidence?” She clasped her hands together and leaned forward.
“In some circumstances.” I folded my arms across my chest. I was just itching for an argument.
“In some circumstances? Where do you draw the line?”
“There’s value in making people happy.” I didn’t know what the hell I was saying. It didn’t matter.
She tensed slightly. “Well, do me a favor: spare me the sympathy lies.”
“I wasn’t planning on buttering anything up for you, sweetheart. It wouldn’t be worth the effort.”
Molly reached over and smacked my leg under the table.
“Ouch.” The word sort of slipped out.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” She hit me with a deadly glare. Ben’s arm wrapped protectively around her.
“Don’t worry about it, Mol. It’s my accent he hates. Or wait, that’s just what makes me different from you.”
“What?” Molly looked back and forth between us.
“Isn’t that what you said? I wasn’t what you expected because I wasn’t more like her?”
“You’re not at all like Molly.” What the hell was I doing? It’s not as if I wanted Molly anymore.
Part of me expected her to storm away from the table, but she held her ground. “That’s okay, because you’re nothing like Ben.” The girl could play ball.
“All right, you two sound the way Molly and I usually do.” Jake scowled at me as he referred to his famous disputes with his sister-in-law. From what I understood, they’d been fighting constantly since they were kids.
Ronny got an impish grin. “Are you sure you two didn’t sleep together last night?”
“No,” we both said.
Becca crossed her arms, causing the fabric of her t-shirt to pull tightly across her chest.
Tom laughed, giving me a look to let me know he’d caught me checking her out. I shrugged and took the last swig of my beer. I wanted another, but I wasn’t going to drive drunk.
“So…” Ronny tried to lighten the mood and turned his attention back to Becca. “What are your plans?”
“I start work on Monday. I’m not sure about tomorrow. What am I doing?” She looked at Molly.
“We’re spending the day at the beach. You need some sun.”
Becca smiled. “Sounds good.”
“When are you going? I might join you guys.” Jake grinned.
“We’ll probably do breakfast at Surf Song first, but after that we’ll be there.”
“Okay, cool.”
I listened to their banter for a while before excusing myself. I purposely avoided looking over at Becca again. She seemed to bring out the worst in me.
I heard Molly comment as I walked away. “What’s up with Gavin? That was so out of character for him.”
I didn’t cast a glance back. I wish I knew.
Chapter Five
Becca
I’d never been in a small town bar before. Sure, I’d spent time in my share of dives and hole in the wall places, but they were still distinctly urban. Gill’s was something else.
Walking in with Molly and Ben was overwhelming to say the least. They knew everyone. I smiled politely, but I felt incredibly out of place. Even though I wasn’t dressed differently, I knew I stood out like a sore thumb.
A guy with dirty blond hair touched my arm gently to get my attention. “Hello, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you yet.”
“Oh, hey, Ronny. This is my friend, Becca,” Molly answered for me.
I accepted his handshake and returned his warm smile. He was cute and being nice to me. I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to make allies in this town.
“So, rumor has it you’re working for the Morgans this summer.”
“Yeah, they were nice enough to hire me.” I couldn’t believe how small the town really was. Molly wasn’t kidding when she said that everyone knew everyone and each other’s business. I was used to the relative anonymity of a big city, and I wasn’t sure I liked the change.
“Cool, Matt’s a chill guy, and his dad’s great. I think you’ll do well with them.” He smiled at me again. I could tell he was trying hard to put me at ease.
“That’s what everyone’s saying.”
“So what brings you here? I mean, besides the incredible job opportunity.”
I laughed. “I needed a change. It’s been a rough year, and when Molly suggested I come down, I couldn’t resist.”
“Nice. Not the rough year part, but you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Oh damn it. I missed you losing your Gill’s virginity.” Jake put an arm around my shoulder. I’m sure I blushed. That boy had a strange sense of humor.
“Gill’s virginity?”
“Yeah, I mean you only have your first visit once.” He wriggled an eyebrow.
“Oh my god. Jake, you’re so weird.” Molly rolled her eyes.
I laughed. “Well we haven’t been here long, so you didn’t miss much.”
Molly turned toward me. “I’m sorry about him. He’s the opposite of a good wine. He gets worse with age.”
Jake glared at her. “As compared to you who—”