A Guide to Being Just Friends, page 6
She nodded. “Yup. And dressing of course. Wanna guess what kind?”
Wes’s smile increased in tiny degrees. “Ketchup?”
Scrunching her face, she pointed at him. “Yes! How did you know that?”
Chris clapped Wes on the back. “Big fan of ketchup and bacon sandwiches right here.”
She couldn’t stop herself from making an “ew” face. “I’m sorry. To each their own. Totally legit. I dip fries in ice cream.”
“That’s actually pretty good. Gracie, my girlfriend, introduced me to that,” Noah said, scanning the menu.
“Everly loves peanut butter and bananas together,” Chris said. His smile was warm and when he said her name, his tone softened.
“Peanut butter and banana isn’t a weird combination,” Wes said, looking at his brother.
“It’s gross, like ketchup and bacon.” Chris looked up at the menu. “Let’s order so Hailey doesn’t unfriend you.”
She laughed the whole time she made their salads—a Mexi Cup, which was turning out to be one of her most popular—an SV Supreme, a combination of lettuces, julienned vegetables, chicken, turkey, and tuna, and, for Wes, a Fruit Fetish, which the guys teased him for ordering. She informed them that the mixture of berries, mango, Greek yogurt, slivered cinnamon-glazed almonds, chia seeds, and a drizzle of honey would make them jealous.
“I’ll bring it out,” she said as she accepted the payment from Chris. Apparently, it was his turn.
She’d always wondered what it would be like to have siblings. Close ones, like these three. She’d had her books and loved falling into any young adult or adult romance she could but it wasn’t the same. Growing up, Piper was the closest thing she had to a sibling and she usually only got to see her during school breaks. Her parents hadn’t wanted children and though they loved her, they loved their marriage and alone time more. She spent most summers with Piper’s family. At the time, she’d felt lucky. But looking back, she wondered why they hadn’t missed her. Why hadn’t they wanted to make memories with her? It made her heart twitch uncomfortably so she tried not to spend a lot of time thinking about it. Or them.
Their laughter drew her attention more than once as she made their lunches. When she brought them over, they asked her to sit. Since she had a moment, she did.
“How are you liking San Verde?” Chris asked, popping the lid off his salad.
“It’s great. I haven’t seen much of it since I spend a lot of hours here. My cousin lives here so it seemed like a good place to settle. How about you guys? Are you California natives?”
Both guys glanced at Wes, who answered, “We’re all from New York, actually. Chris came out for work, Noah followed, and I joined them almost two months ago.”
“I didn’t realize you were new to town like me. We can figure out the city together,” she said.
Noah finished his mouthful, a playful grin lighting up his face. “He’s all set. There are multiple food options here in the square, a tech store, and every shop offers Wi-Fi.”
She laughed even though Wes didn’t. “I know you work at the station, Chris, and Wes does something with computers, but do you all work together on everything?”
A couple walked through the door, hand in hand. Hailey nearly bounced out of her seat. “Hi. Welcome to By the Cup.”
As she made custom salads for them, three more people came in. By the time she’d served everyone, the guys were done with their lunch and Hailey felt like she could lift a car with the happy adrenaline coursing through her.
“Nice little rush,” Wes said, standing at the counter, his brothers at his side.
“It was. It’s getting better every day. I’m so glad you guys came in and I hope you’ll come back.”
“Your food is delicious. I didn’t think I’d be excited about coming for salad, but the last one was so good and this one was great. I’m not sure which one was better,” Noah said.
“Thank you. That makes me happy. You guys are heading up to check out the space upstairs?”
“We are. Have you seen any of it?” Chris asked.
She shook her head, glanced at Wes. “No, but I heard it’s great. I have a meeting up there next week with some other shop owners.”
“Wes’s place is great. Everly and I live about twenty minutes from here in an apartment but Noah’s looking for a house for us.”
“Your voice gets soft when you say her name,” Hailey said, a hint of longing fluttering in her chest. She’d thought Dorian felt that way about her at one time. Maybe he had. Their relationship felt like one of the movie sets she’d worked on—not entirely real. With a sad ending.
“Probably because I’m crazy about her,” Chris said without one hint of embarrassment. Dorian had always held off on any sort of affection in public, verbally or otherwise, until he could gauge the audience of whatever event they attended. He’d told her it wasn’t personal. He needed to maintain a certain image to grow his career and being tied down to one woman, at least publicly, could cost him opportunities.
She pulled out an eggplant to chop for her own salad. See? She ate more than chocolate. “I guess not believing in love doesn’t run in the family then.”
Both of the brothers laughed as Wes gave her a wry grin, shifting his feet.
“Nope. Definitely not. Wes is a tech geek—if he could create his perfect woman via technology, he would.”
When he looked down at his feet, Hailey’s heart pinched. “There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want and holding out for it. Love—the word or the feeling—doesn’t make something a guarantee.”
He lifted his head and his gaze was so intense it felt physical. A shiver traveled over her skin as his appreciation shone from eyes darker than either of his brothers’.
“Exactly,” he said.
“You’ll both see when you get hit with the real thing,” Noah said, glancing at his phone. “We should head upstairs. We’re having a BBQ at our place on Sunday, Hailey. You should join us. You’ve already met Stacey, Everly, and Grace. We live on the beach so we usually end up playing volleyball.”
She wanted to jump at the chance but she didn’t want to get in the way. Wes said he wanted to be friends but he had this shell, making him hard to read. “That’s a really nice offer.”
“You could bring a friend if it makes you more comfortable. Someone other than Wes, I mean. Noah lives by the motto ‘the more the merrier,’” Chris said.
“Hey. I’ve gotten a lot better and I’m always careful to give you a heads-up for Everly.” Noah gestured to Wes. “Plus, this guy doesn’t love a big crowd either so we tend to keep it small.”
She didn’t know a lot about these guys but she still had a little piece of her gut she trusted. Just because her judgment had been skewed before didn’t mean these weren’t good people. The only way to get to know them was to take the chance. Even then, truly knowing someone wasn’t a guarantee any more than love. The truth was, she’d known Dorian for six months before their first kiss. They’d dated for three years, and in the end, she hadn’t known him at all.
“Noah can be annoying when it comes to the volleyball because he’s a poor sport, but otherwise it’s really fun. You’re closed on Sundays, right?” Wes looked at the sign on the door as a couple of girls walked in.
“I am. Okay. Sure. Why not?” She moved the eggplant aside. “I’ll be right with you.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and passed it to Wes. “Put your number in there so I can text you.”
Long after they’d left, after she’d served a bunch of customers, she was still thinking about Wes and his brothers. Her only focus when she’d packed up her place in L.A. was to get on her feet professionally. She hadn’t been worried about friends or dating. She had Piper and her family.
She’d needed the recovery time with just herself to reset and remind herself that she wasn’t the sum of her mistakes. Believing in Dorian for longer than he deserved didn’t make her an idiot.
Piper accused her of shutting herself off, running away from her problems, burying her head in the sand like she used to do in books. Hailey had told her where to put her counseling advice before realizing she wasn’t wrong. She’d had to deal with the impact of her relationship and get to a healthy place. She was in it. She felt it. But letting new people in still scared her. At least with Wes, she knew he was safe. He didn’t want anything other than friendship. She could be herself and if he didn’t like what he saw, it wouldn’t wreck her self-esteem. She’d also get a chance to be friends with some seemingly lovely women and his brothers.
Dorian’s words during their last argument, the final one, still rang in her ears now and again but they were quieter now.
You’re no one’s leading lady, least of all mine. You’re a boring book nerd who serves food out of a truck, for God’s sake. You aren’t even the best friend in a second-rate movie. You’re an extra. A nobody. You were a placeholder, Hailey.
Yeah, she’d retreated into herself a bit with those words. Then she’d kicked him out of her house and told him what she really thought of his acting skills.
“You say you’ve moved on, you’re okay. Prove it. Stop second-guessing the chance to really build a life here.” Now she sounded like Piper. A small laugh escaped as she swept up, turned the OPEN sign to CLOSED. At least she could tell her cousin the therapy practice was working.
8
“Let me get this straight,” Piper said, taking the tray of salads out of Hailey’s hands. “First he’s a jerk, then he apologizes and you actually let him help you—total growth there, cous—and now you’re hanging with his family at a beach house?”
“Good recap. Why do you sound so suspicious?”
Piper set the tray down and turned to face Hailey, who dug through her purse, which she’d dumped on the counter, for some ChapStick. Finding it, she glossed her lips, then put it back, looked around the room with serious envy. Piper’s kitchen was a dream—one of the things they’d always had in common was their love of cooking.
“Hails. Come on. Hot guy says sorry, whips up your website, and now you’re headed to a beach house in the middle of nowhere?”
Hailey’s jaw dropped and she tilted her head. “Whoa. That’s what you got out of me telling you? I didn’t say Wes was hot. When I was here last, your friends offered to help me with some design and marketing. Why is it sinister when Wes does something similar?” Two of the women, sisters Megan and Rachel, ran an Etsy-style shop that specialized in all things stationery.
“Yeah but other than Rachel—who is in a committed relationship—none of my friends would want to get in your pants.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Neither does Wes. Trust me. It’s a day at the beach, new friends. I need to meet people somehow. I’m not into clubbing and that’s not how you meet friends anyway. How do people in their thirties start over?”
Piper came to her side and gave her a hug. “Like this, I guess. I just worry about someone taking advantage of you. Or murdering you and burying your body in the sand.”
She pushed out of Piper’s embrace, aware that her cousin’s words echoed Wes’s. “You’re a jerk.”
“But only because I love you. What’s his last name?”
The door opened and female voices danced into the room as Piper said, “Let’s look them up on the internet.”
Rachel set down two bottles of wine, one red, one white. “Who are we googling?”
Fiona and Megan followed, joining them in the kitchen. Piper took over telling the women, as she got out wineglasses, about Wes and how Hailey had met him.
“That’s so cute,” Fiona said.
Hailey was regretting her decision to share with her cousin and didn’t really think there was anything cute or worrisome about what she’d said.
Were people really so skeptical about organic friendships? Sure, she hadn’t met him because he slid into her DMs but there was life before whatever was the newest social media app.
She followed the women, salad in one hand and wine in the other. The house was nothing short of sprawling. Two steps led from the kitchen to a living room—one of two. This one had a wall of windows and glass doors that led to the backyard. The pool sparkled in the evening sun. Outdoor furniture was arranged around the gas firepit, inviting guests to curl up and chat.
Piper’s husband had taken their kids to his mother’s. As she walked past family photos on the way out to the deck, she felt that pang of longing again. Just because you don’t have what she does now doesn’t mean you never will. The truth was, she wasn’t ready yet. Though, she knew life wasn’t perfect—below every glittery surface, there was a scratched underbelly. Piper’s husband worked long hours as an investment banker. Piper ran herself ragged many days, caring for their three kids, studying at night. Everything had a downside.
With no books in sight, the women who made up Piper’s “book club” gossiped about everything from who’d just moved into Piper’s neighborhood to the latest entertainment news. When she’d shown up the first time, she’d been stupidly excited to talk about Jasmine Guillory’s latest and greatest but the women hadn’t even brought their books. Hailey had a great night but she’d had a moment of disappointment that it wasn’t an actual book club as well as all the rest. But maybe she needed this more.
Rachel polished off a mango chicken salad in record time, then set down the cup. “That was delicious. I love when salads have fruit in them. Do you make all your own dressing?”
She finished off her salad. “I do. I have a similar base for several of them and then I add different combinations to make them unique.”
“You’re very good at it. One of the magazines I write for does an in-house working lunch every month. Most of us are remote but it’s a good chance for us to bounce ideas off of each other.” Fiona set her empty cup down. “If you have a card, I’ll suggest you for next month.”
Happiness and disappointment ricocheted in her chest. Dammit. Where was her follow-through? Her intentions were good; she’d even looked through several samples, but had been unable to decide on the overall design. “I would love that. Thank you but I don’t have cards yet.” You will get this done. No more putting it off. She’d been busier than expected the last week or two, which was a good thing, but it wreaked havoc on her to-do list.
“Actually,” Megan said, lifting a small box Hailey hadn’t even noticed. She set it in front of her. “It’s our welcome gift. Both to the city and our very serious book group.”
Tears pricked her eyes when she lifted the lid and saw the cutest business cards. She could use that word because it described them perfectly without making them less professional. BY THE CUP was written in a cursive font with her name underneath. The top right corner had a little salad cup filled with colorful veggies, surprisingly similar to the little sketch Wes had done. There was a delicate line with a swirl in the middle on the bottom of the card. The lettering was bright blue, like at her store.
“These are incredible.” She sniffled. Piper put her arm around her shoulder.
“We also brought you this,” Rachel said, handing her a flash drive. “It’s so you can print more anytime you like, but there are also coupons and gift cards on there. The file is editable but if you have any trouble, give me a call.”
“Isn’t your new buddy, Wes, a tech guru?” Piper asked.
“Oh!” Fiona sat up straight, grabbed her phone. “We didn’t google him.”
Hailey’s throat felt thick but she waved her hand in front of her. “Please don’t. I don’t think I’m imagining things. I’d like to believe, despite recent events in my life, that I still have some sort of gauge on people. I don’t want to stalk his social media or find him on his dating apps. Other than this, you guys and Piper, I haven’t met anyone I clicked with friendship wise. It seems weird that Wes and I would click in that way at all but he’s got this dry humor and interesting take on life. I just want to enjoy building my new life. I wouldn’t want him to look into any of you. Please.” She needed to restore faith in her own judgment.
Fiona set her phone down. “That’s fair. They said you could bring a friend. I’ll go with you.”
Setting the box of cards down, she stared at her cousin’s friend. “Really? You’d do that?”
Megan said something under her breath and pretended to cough. Piper laughed. Rachel rolled her eyes and picked up her wine.
“Oh, she’ll do that and a whole lot more for you,” Rachel said. Her hair was swept back from her face in a loose ponytail that swung from side to side when she shook her head.
“What am I missing?” Hailey looked at Piper.
“Nothing,” Fiona answered. “I’m a nice person, I like you, so I offered to do something nice.”
Hailey grinned, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “And?”
Fiona picked up her wine, not a hint of regret in her steady gaze. “And I sometimes need a sidekick to research my articles.”
Piper squeezed Hailey’s arm. “Usually what she gets us into is harmless.”
“Usually?” Hailey laughed. She wanted new adventures but she had her limits. “What are you working on right now?”
“I’m doing an article on whether or not you can find love in five minutes.”
Hailey’s jaw dropped. “Can that be done?” The others laughed. Instant lust, sure. Attraction? Obviously. But love? Come on. I couldn’t find it in a three-year committed relationship.
Fiona’s gaze was skeptical. “Doubt it, but I’m looking into speed dating results. People who claim they’ve found their forever in those few minutes.”
“I find it hard to imagine. I don’t even want to. I’m happy not to be dating,” Hailey said. She meant it; not focusing on that kind of relationship was giving her herself back.
Piper leaned back. “I should ask Nick to set you up with someone.”
Hailey huffed out a deep sigh. “I’m not ready to date again but when I am, I’m going to have to go through one of these methods, Pipes. Seriously, I’m not going back to college to meet a guy.”
