Page 26 of Sounds Like Love
“So people have said,” I replied. Todd started to steam the milk for my latte, though it felt like he was going purposefully slow, peeking over the top of the machine as he worked. I pulled my braid over my shoulder, tugging on it.
“The new one’s incredible,” Van added. “And I usually don’t like love songs.”
That caught me by surprise, and I quickly looked up at him again to see if he was joking, but his eyes were sincere.
“You’re a musician?”the voice in my head asked, his tone eerily neutral.
Songwriter, I corrected absently.
“Thanks,” I murmured in reply, feeling panic build in my middle.
Todd slid up our orders, and we took them, and Van bade me goodbye. Had places to be, parents to move out of old houses, probably a girlfriend to call or a partner to text or something, until he turned around.
“We should get together,” he said, walking backward toward the door.
Was he—was heasking me out? “I—um … I …”
“Lemme know, yeah? I think Mitch has my new number. It was really nice seeing you again, Joni,” he added, pushing his back against the door, and the bell above jingled as he left.
Hehadjust asked me out.
I stood there, open-mouthed.
Van Erickson had just asked me out.
Almost nine years to the day since he walked away from me that evening on the beach.
“Not that you’re counting,”the voice pointed out.
I grabbed my latte and fled toward the door to the back patio. I’d come here to have coffee with my best friend, not get picked up by exes.
Though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t ruminating on the idea of it. I mean, Ihadbeen thinking about that night on the beach when “If You Stayed” poured out of me. It was ancient history, but a part of me wondered if I could have written what everyone was calling a love song if I wasentirelyover him?
Old love was like riding a bike, after all. You never quite forgot how it felt.
“Remember, it ended badly,” I whispered, convincing myself, as I stepped out of the air-conditioned café and into the seating area.
Despite the name, Cool Beans was not in the least bitcool. The tables were outside in the sun, protected only by a few large umbrellas that never put out enough shade. I cupped a hand above my eyes and found Gigi sitting at the farthest picnic table, reading a book. She lounged across the seat of one of the tables, lying down with her sunglasses on,hovering the book over her face to block out the sun as she read. When she got bored, she flipped to the last page, scrunched her nose, and then returned to the page she was on. That was Gigi for you—she always liked to see what was coming. She liked having a plan for it all.
In real life, the future felt like this heavy cloud in the distance, coming closer, a hurricane rumbling just offshore.
I slid onto the bench opposite her, still shaken by my encounter with Van. “That good a book, huh?”
Gigi pushed herself up to sit. “I feel like I’ve read the same sex scene three times already.”
“Is it at least exciting?”
“The first time,” she replied morosely, and shoved her book into her bag. “Was that Van I saw leaving?”
Sipping my latte, I nodded solemnly.
She winced. “Oof. He reallydidget hot, didn’t he?”
“Tell me about it,” I moaned. Then: “Do you think ‘If You Stayed’ is about him?”
Gigi leaned in and studied me carefully, as if she wasn’t quite sure whether it was a trick question. “I dunno,” she replied finally. “You tell me.”
Chapter11Out of My Head (Was I Out of My Mind?)
