Not that I needed to know the town gossip – it just felt weird being back and completely clueless because it had been such a staple of my world for so long.
As if she could read my mind, Jenn smiled and said, “Welcome back to Black Oak, Hailey.”
CHAPTER SIX - CASON
“Shutting down to go hang out at the bonfire,” I called out to the crowd, who groaned at my announcement as we closed up shop. “But feel free to come by the restaurant tomorrow. Twenty percent off if you mention you stopped by.”
Bennett punched my arm – hard. It wasn't the usual playful punch we'd give each other now and then – it felt like a serious hit. I looked at him, irritation running through me.
“What in the hell are you doing?” he whispered, facing away from the crowd.
“Shutting down to –” I started to repeat myself, but he cut me off.
“No, the discount,” he said. “We didn't agree to that.”
“Executive decision, man,” I said, shrugging. “These fine people want food, and since we're closing down, thought it would be the right thing to do. Plus, it might bring in a little more business than we might have had.”
Bennett shook his head, his face creased with irritation. “Why not just give food away for free then?”
Sarcasm dripped from his tongue, but he'd already pissed me off, so I figured I'd do something to spite him.
“Fine,” I said, leaning around him and shouting out, “Free hot dogs for all kids tomorrow!”
“No,” Bennett called. “He's just kidding. No free hot dogs.”
Quinn piped up. “It's already out there, Ben, and it would be false advertising if we didn't honor it now. And that's bad for business. It's a damn hot dog. Stop being such a tight ass.”
Ben muttered something under his breath and walked away, busying himself by finishing loading the truck. At least he was doing the manual labor this time. It was a nice change of pace since Quinn and I had done it all earlier.
I looked across the walkway at Jenn Drake's cake shop. Like us, she was packing all of her things up for the night and caught me staring, a knowing smile on her lips. Not wanting to give her the wrong idea – she was a married woman after all and I wasn't like that – I gave her a friendly wave and started to look away.
But then Hailey stepped up beside her and took the box of cupcakes from her friend, and my eyes stayed glued to her. Try as I might, I couldn't look away. The last time I saw Hailey was at a bonfire like this one – probably around the fall after our high school graduation. Neither of us went straight to college. She'd been a pretty girl back then, even if she did her best to cover herself up in oversized sweatshirts and yoga pants.
But she'd changed over the years, and now, she was something else entirely.
Her delicate face was surrounded by long, luxurious chocolate brown hair. Caramel highlights fell down around her chin and brought out the green in her eyes. A sprinkling of freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and cheeks. It was something I'd always thought was adorable about her and I was glad to see she'd never grown out of them. It added to that girl-next-door appeal she had. And she had that in spades.
She caught me staring and for a second, we just stood there with our gazes locked. Even from across the aisle, I swear I felt a connection with her. I smiled, and I saw her cheeks flush as she smiled back at me, her plump lips pulled back in an adorable grin.
And just like that – there was the girl who'd helped me pass Biology our sophomore year. The same geeky girl who had no problem cutting into the fetal pig – even as other girls screeched in disgust. It didn't get to Hailey. In fact, she seemed pretty fascinated by it. Science was her thing, she said. As it was mine. Or at least, I'd wanted it to be after that semester with her.
“I'll be right back,” I said.
Quinn caught me staring and stopped me. “Nope,” he said. “You're staying right here.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Beca
use I'm gonna go over there and talk to her first,” he said.
“Wanna bet?”
I punched him in the arm as I took off, Quinn right behind me. Being the star athlete in the family, I knew he could outrun me and beat me to her. It was stupid to even try and beat him. But I knew there was no way my brother was going to ask her out first.
As we ran, he pulled up right beside me and gave me a crooked grin.
“Hey, I need to get over Shelly, remember?” He smirked. “I think Hailey could help me do that.”