Gabi gasped. “Holy shit.”
“It was a long time ago,” Pressly said, waving her hand in the air as if it didn’t matter. “He was down here visiting his cousin for the summer. I was home from boarding school.” She paused and drank another sip of wine, as if she needed to quench a fire in her throat. “I fell hard for him. We were inseparable that whole summer. Then he went back home. I went back to school. I never saw him again. End of story.”
My shoulders sagged in disappointment. Thatcher was one of those dickwads who had used and discarded a girl. I was shocked to hear it. Pressly’s story hit too close to home.Julian. It made my stomach churn.
“Disgusting,” I said.
“No. It wasn’t his fault. I didn’t keep in touch either. We didn’t have cell phones and internet back then.” She poked a finger at me. “You’re too young to remember.”
I bristled. The problem with relationships had nothing to do with cell phones or internet. The problem was people making promises they couldn’t keep and leaving without a trace.
“Here’s to book boyfriends,” I said, raising my glass. “God’s apology for men in real life.”
Everyone chimed in. “Cheers!”
Chapter 10
“Let’s do something other than talk about men,” Mia suggested. “Come on! Let’s dance!”
We shuffled onto the dance floor, joining a crowd that was drunk or well on their way to getting there. After a few songs, we were all dancing together. The band played an Irish song that everyone on the dance floor seemed to know.
Sloane grabbed Pressly’s hand and they danced together, laughing. The lively music filled my body, making me want to dance, but I didn’t know the steps.
Voices raised to compete with the singer on stage, and bodies bumped together as people flooded the dance floor. An arm brushed mine, and I backed into something soft and hard at the same time. A man.
He moved awkwardly and off beat, but he had nice form. My lips twitched in a smile as I watched his butt bump and grind to the wrong beat.
The beat of the song picked up pace and so did his dancing. He stumbled into his friend and then stepped closer to me, narrowly missing the toe of my blue velvet boot.
I scooted out of the way just in time.
“Sorry…” The apology froze on his lips as he turned to look at me. Recognition flashed in his eyes. “Hey! You’re the dog walker chick from the park,” he yelled over the music.
“You’re the biker dude,” I said.
“Wanna dance?”
“Is that what you call it?” I pointed to his clumsy gyrations.
He laughed and took my hand, then pulled me into his dysfunctional jig. It turned out he was even worse at dancing with a partner. But I wasn’t any better. We made fools of ourselves, laughing the entire time.
The band started a slow dance and couples began forming. I took a step back, not wanting to give him the wrong idea. There was an awkward pause and then he asked, “Buy you a drink?”
I glanced over and saw Sloane and Gabi heading back to our table. Mia and Pressly were still on the dance floor. “I’m with my friends,” I said, wiggling my fingers in a wave.
He lifted his hand, waving at them too. “Come on,” he said. “One drink. To apologize for my atrocious dancing.”
“I was bad too,” I said.
“Yeah.” He grinned. “You were.”
He cocked his head toward the bar in question, and I nodded. Weaving our way through the tables, we made our way to the bar. I ordered my favorite beer and his dark eyebrows shot up. I thought he was going to question my choice of drink, but he surprised me by turning to the bartender and asking for the same.
“We have the same taste in beer,” he said.
It wasn’t as loud in the corner of the bar opposite the dance floor, and we could talk without shouting.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
