She frowns at me. “Why is it weird? He’s an interesting guy. We’re just friends.”
I shrug, shake my head. “You were pushing him on me not that long ago, that’s all.”
“You’d never date him. I’m starting to think you’ll never date anyone.” She holds my gaze very intently. “Even Jamie Trent.”
I sigh. I’ve managed to go this long without an interrogation from Cora, but I knew it was coming. “Can we keep talking about Lewis?”
She laughs. “Nope. Nothing to talk about anyway. He’s weird, cool, interesting, funny, artistic, reclusive, kind of mysterious, very attractive, and yes, I may have a little bit of a crush on him and so what—we’re not talking about him, we’re talking about Jamie Trent, he of the starched and pressed chinos. Who, apparently, is also a big deal football player or something.”
I roll my eyes. “That rumor is a bit overstated. He played in college, that’s all.”
“So he’s got a hot body under those chinos and polos?”
“He actually wears button-downs and weird ties more than polos.”
Cora rests her chin on her fist and blinks at me. “Oh? Do tell.”
“Tell what? There’s nothing to tell.” I drop my voice, even though the bar is loud and there’s no one even within ten feet of us. “Yes, we slept together. Yes, it was absolutely incredible. Yes, I’m attracted to him. No, I’m not going to date him. Yes, he has a pretty great body—he stays in shape, but he doesn’t have the body he probably did in college. He has very nice arms and a flat stomach, but not quite a six-pack. A little definition, but not shredded.” I laugh and pat my stomach. “Like I have any room to be making judgments on that score, though.”
Cora hurls a mayo packet at me. “Oh shut up with that mess, Elyse Thomas. You lost forty pounds through hard work and determination! You’re sexy and you have nothing to be self-conscious about.”
“I lost forty and put ten back on and can’t seem to get it off again. And I did it by not eating garbage and walking a lot.”
“Speaking of which, aren’t we due to start back with our morning walks?”
I nod. “Yes, we are. I kinda slipped a bit this summer on the walking, but I was pretty active with Aiden. I do want to get back into our before-school walks.”
“I’ve been talking to Trish and Avery and Yvonne, and they want to walk with us.”
I sigh— selfishly, I kind of like our walks just being the two of us especially because along with Cora, Trish, Avery, and Yvonne are the heirs apparent to the Clayton Busybody Society. Cora would never admit to being a gossip or a busybody, but she loves keeping abreast of the town news, and she keeps tabs on everyone and always has a line on the juiciest tidbits.
Cora spins her now-empty wineglass by the stem. “Why won’t you date Jamie?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
She eyes me. “I know the excuses you’d make.”
“They’re notexcuses, they’rereasons,” I insist. “And valid ones, at that.”
“Not wanting to confuse Aiden or let him get too attached when it may not work—that I get. But that’s not a reason to not date Jamie at all, just…be careful about it. Go slow. Don’t let Aiden know until you’re sure it’s something that can last.”
“Jamie is already all kinds of mixed up in Aiden’s life—he’s his principal as well as his football coach, now, and Aiden thinks Jamie hung the moon. He’d get one whiff of Jamie and I and be all over it like ants at a picnic.”
“What’s the real reason, Elyse?”
I groan, tipping my head backward and closing my eyes. “Cora, come on.”
“You come on, Elyse. It’s not a complicated question.”
“Isn’t it?”
She sighs. “Not really, no.”
I grab her wineglass and mine and slide out of the booth. “I’m going to get us more wine.”
She catches my wrist and hauls me back to the booth. “Oh no, you don’t.”
I slump to the bench. “Why are you digging into this so hard, Cora?”
