“Besides, I saw the way Wesley looked at you,” Hal started, “and word on the street is you two watched the fireworks together. Sounds romantic.”
“Hal, how—” I shook my head with a laugh. “How did you hear about that?” That was the other thing with small towns. Word traveled fast. “We’re neighbors who got off on the wrong foot and are friendly now. Besides, I’m leaving at the end of the summer, remember?”
Hal hummed, a smile on his face like he didn’t believe me. “If that’s what you say, Miss Jules.”
What did he know that I didn’t? And how had Wes been looking at me?
I grabbed my laptop, closing it and sliding it into my bag along with my notes. I gave Hal another smile. “I gotta get going. Eliza, Lily, and I are heading to Lake Ridge tonight. I have a few more things to get done before then, but I’ll see you next week?”
Hal nodded, amused. “I’ll see you then. You girls have fun. Say hi to Wes for me.”
“I likely won’t see him tonight, but if I do, I will.”
“Okay, ladies, one shot before we leave.” Eliza didn’t wait for our confirmation before filling three shot glasses with tequila. She had the lime wedges and salt ready, too.
“Tequila?” I scrunched my nose, able to conjure the sharp taste even before taking the shot. It was going to be an interesting Saturday night if we were starting like this.
We had spent the last couple of hours getting ready in the cabin and listening to Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Rihanna, and other artists.
“Yes! Perfect way to start the night.” Lily made her way into the kitchen, her golden curls bouncing behind her. She was wearing a cropped tank with flared jeans that hung loosely on her hips. “How did training and onboarding at Lake Ridge go? You finished your first full week, right?”
Eliza set the tequila bottle down, handing each of us a shot. She had on black shorts paired with a chunky belt and a crochet halter top. “It was good. Honestly, pretty similar to the bartending job I had in college. I’m feeling ready and looking forward to making some extra cash. Everyone is really helpful, especially Louise. She gave me some tips and tricks for making drinks faster and remembering what the regulars order. I will say though”—Eliza had a mischievous smile on her face as she looked over at me—“Wes seemed distracted all week.”
“Why are you looking at me?” I squeaked.
“Uh, because it’s obvious,” Lily said with a laugh. “My brother literally didn’t stop staring at you all of Fourth of July, and then the recluse invited you to watch fireworks with him.”
“Because we’re, well, friendlier these days.” Although I hadn’t heard much from him this week. Not that I expected to. And not that I wanted to.
Eliza laughed at the same time Lily quickly waved her hand. “Nope didn’t need to know that.”
“Not like that!” My cheeks flushed.
“Twenty bucks Wesley says something to Cooper about staying away from Jules,” Eliza chimed in.
Lily bumped her hip against mine. “We’re giving you a hard time. I mean, I still don’t want details, but whatever is happening is between you two, as long as it doesn’t impact our friendship, I’m happy.”
“I appreciate that,” I said slowly, “but there’s nothing going on.” I didn’t like how defensive my voice got. I might’ve developed atinycrush on Wesley, but that wasn’t something I needed to share. It wasn’t like this would go anywhere. I didn’t want complicated, and getting tangled up with Wes would be exactly that.
Lily looked down at her phone as the screen lit up. “Okay, let’s take this shot. Wes is going to be here in five.”
Of course, Wes was our driver for the night.
“To girls’ night!” Eliza said, and we all cheered.
We licked the salt off the back of our hands, knocked our shots back, and quickly chased the burn with the lime wedges.
“That never gets any easier.” I shook my head, my face pinched.
“No, it doesn’t.” Lily coughed. “But we’re going to have a blast tonight.”
When I looked at the two of them, Lily was struggling while Eliza looked like she was ready for another.
“Couldn’t agree more,” I said.
I grabbed my purse, slipping my phone and lip gloss inside. I took a final look in the mirror. It’d been a while since I’d gotten fully ready like this. Getting ready onParadise Lovewith all the other girls was one of the main highlights of being on the show. It was even better to be getting ready with Lily and Eliza.
As I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed I wasn’t carrying tension in my shoulders and my jaw wasn’t clenched. Apart from the boat day on the Fourth, I hadn’t given much thought to Tony’s comments in theReality Weeklyarticle. If that’s the way he wanted to go about life, then so be it. I couldn’t control it.What Icouldcontrol were my actions, who I surrounded myself with, and what I did next. I was inspired about working with small businesses and felt even more confident I was making the right decision by trying to pursue this as the next step in my career.
