Shaking my head, I moved out of earshot, not wanting to hear the answer to that one. Henry Cavill was a good-looking dude. Not sure I could compete on that front.
CHAPTERFOUR
brooke
“Brooke, what’s wrong?”
I had tried to hide it, but Leeta could tell something was up.
I whispered in reply, not wanting to drag the vibe down. “Evan just texted.”
“Are you serious? Jerk. What did he say?”
The sight of our tasting guy’s ass as he walked away distracted me. The guy was so hot, looking at him was like looking into the sun.
“Oh. My. God.”
I whipped my head back to Leeta. Too late. I was caught. “What?”
“That is literally the first time in months you passed on an opportunity to talk about Evan. Not that I blame you. He’s unreal.”
“Who?” I pretended not to understand.
“What are you two whispering about? Our guy?” Debby asked.
“He’s not ‘our guy.’” Amy stretched her neck to look up at the deck where our tasting attendant had disappeared inside. “Although I wouldn’t mind if he was.”
Since she was also single, I immediately deferred to my friend. “Go for it,” I told her. “We’re here a few more days.” I added with a wink.
“Oh no,” Amy said. “He was totally checking you out.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you,” Marian agreed. “You didn’t see it because you were on your phone.”
I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but I also didn’t want them to think I was not fully present either. I read somewhere that every time you picked up your cell when you were with other people, it was basically like saying the real-life companions were less important than whatever you were looking at, and that totally made sense. But there were exceptions. Like when the guy who was responsible for getting you fired from your dream job, also the same guy you’ve been dating for months, popped up on your phone unexpectedly.
“Evan texted,” I admitted to the group. But in an effort to not make this about him, since the point of this whole trip was to pull me out of the hell that had been my life since the breakup and job loss, I quickly added, “It’s no big deal. He just asked when I’m coming back to New York.”
“Hewhat?” Debby was kind enough to be indignant on my behalf.
“You didn’t answer him, did you?” Jen asked, mortified.
“No,” I assured the group. “And I don’t plan to.”
Murmurs of “good” and “screw him” turned back to a discussion ofourguy.
“I think I’m moving to the Finger Lakes,” Tina said. “If there are more where that guy came from.”
“Speaking of moving, have you decided yet what you’re going to do?” Leeta asked me.
After I lost my job and Evan and I broke up, I’d toyed with the idea of moving out of the city. Rent was outrageous, and that job had been the only reason I’d moved to New York in the first place. “I’m not sure,” I sighed. “I applied to a few places, so we’ll see.”
“In the city?” Debby asked.
“Yeah,” I told her. “Nothing exciting, to be honest.”
The girls continued chatting as I looked out to the lake. There was something calming about the water, but maybe that was just because I grew up on a lake just like this. When we left Shohola Lake after Mom and Dad divorced and we moved for the first time, I missed it terribly. The calm in the morning and early evenings. The way the boat lights looked like sparkles on the water at night.