Every word Jewel could have thought to say vanished from her brain. Lea knocked her head to the side before resting, far less tense, against the counter. Silence permeated the room, full of Jewel’s tension and Lea’s relief.
“He was at the bowling alley during my game.” Lea pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes. “God, he’s such an idiot, Jewel. What did you see in him?”
She was still speechless. Her ex hadn’t even waited a week to ask her best friend out. It was like she was being thrown back into high school only it was way worse when they were adults. She’d slept with him for Christ’s sake. Did he really want to sleep with Lea, too? What did he even see in her?
“He came up to me in between games and was flirting. I shut him down. But then after the game, he followed me out to the car and asked me out. I immediately turned him down. Please.” Lea grabbed Jewel’s hand, getting her attention. “Please, you have to know I never would have considered—”
“I know that,” Jewel muttered. She wanted to know that, but somewhere deep down inside her, she did question. Lea couldn’t live alone forever, could she? She’d heard the questions being asked about Ms. Azalea Fuller all around town, when she was a student teacher and had moved there to take on her own classrooms. Everyone wanted to know when the teacher was going to settle down and find love. Jewel would be lying if she said she hadn’t wondered the same thing, but Lea had never talked about dating except in its most basic and surface-level form.
“Do you?” Lea asked. “Because that look on your face says you questioned it. I don’t want him to come between us.”
“Nonsense. He’s done and gone from my life.”
“We live in a small town, Jewel. You’ll likely have to deal with him again, and if he does settle down and have kids, you’ll end up teaching them if you stay here. That’s the joy and wonder and sometimes hardship of small towns.”
“I know,” Jewel muttered. That thought had crossed her mind briefly, but she’d largely ignored it as something she could deal with at a later date.
“Jewel, I’m serious. I would never do something like that to you.” Lea reached out and grabbed Jewel’s hand, squeezing her fingers before dropping the physical connection.
She knew who she wanted to believe, but still, it stung to know he was trying to move on already—with Lea of all people. Jewel swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I’m glad you told me.”
“He’s an idiot for letting you go. You know that, right? You’re quite a catch.”
Jewel snorted. “Some days. Other days I’m the asshole who wakes my best friend up to co-opt their time and couch without warning.”
The lighthearted tone had done the trick, because Lea sent her a beautiful smile, her plump lips curling upward, her eyes crinkling at the corners. There may have been fifteen years between them, but most days, it felt like nothing. They were best friends, and Jewel should have trusted that Lea would have her back no matter what.
“Come on,” Jewel started, gripping Lea’s hand again and dragging her toward the couch. “Let’s be done talking about that asshole.”
“Yes. Please.” Lea chuckled lightly. “Enough about him.”
“Let’s finish our donuts and then you can help me set up my online dating profiles.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Hey, I got to get my feet wet somehow, and this town is way too small for me to only cast my net here.”
Lea sighed. “I suppose.”
“If you want, we can always set one up for you, too.”
“No, thank you.”
Jewel clenched her jaw, watching carefully for any kind of reaction she might get. She wanted to know what Lea was thinking. There always seemed to be this one moment, this one thing Lea held back on, and no matter how many times Jewel had tried to crack it, she hadn’t been able to. Lea only allowed people in so much. Jewel got to see more of her than most everyone else, which she loved, but still, Lea held back. “Your loss.”
“Yes, it is,” Lea agreed.
Jewel grabbed a donut and took a large bite. She was going to push today. Every once in a while, she would try to wrangle out whatever it was Lea concealed, and today, she would try again. Eyeing Lea carefully to make sure it would go over, Jewel relaxed her body. “When’s the last time you went on a date?”
“What?” Lea twisted toward her with wide eyes.
“When’s the last time you went on a date?”
“I’m not really interested in dating.” Her voice was quick, firm, and left hardly any room for argument.
Jewel dared herself before she spoke next. “And why is that?”
Lea gave her a hard look. “Why are you pushing this today?”