Page 52 of Small Town Swoo
His words made me think of what Devlin had said about Lexi being the best thing that ever happened to him. I wondered if maybe some kind of relationship gene had skipped over me. I’d never had those feelings for anybody. Not even close.
“Buckley? Party of two?”
We turned toward the door, where the hostess, a high school girl, had stuck her head out and called our name. “That’s us,” Xander said.
Inside, she led us to a booth toward the back, and we slid in on opposite sides. Again, I looked around for Ari and didn’t see her. After placing menus on our table, the hostess said our server would be over in a minute to tell us aboutthe specials. Then she turned beet red and smiled at me. Her name tag said Kinsey. “Sorry to bother you, but I loveMalibu Splash. Would it be okay to take a selfie?”
“Sure.”
Kinsey pulled out her phone, aimed it at us from just the right angle, and snapped a couple shots. “Thanks,” she said, still blushing furiously as she hurried back up front.
Our server, whose name tag said Gerilyn, came over a few minutes later and told us about the lunch specials—I recognized the chicken pot pie and the grilled cheese, but there was also a BLT on house-made sourdough served with truffle aioli.
“Braised short ribs grilled cheese, please,” said Xander with obvious excitement.
“I’ll try the BLT,” I said. “Is Ari here by any chance?”
“She is,” Gerilyn said, “but she’s giving someone a tour of the diner right now and then they’re doing an interview.”
“Who is it?” I asked, sitting up straighter in the booth.
“I forget his name, but apparently, he’s a pretty big-deal food writer. Evidently, he came in here one day earlier this week incognito and tried one of her specials.” She grinned. “He said he couldn’t stop thinking about it and showed up again this morning asking if he could interview her!”
“That’s awesome.” My chest filled with pride for Ari. “Was she excited?”
Gerilyn laughed. “She was freaking out.”
“I can’t wait to hear about it.”
“I’ll send her over when she’s done. Now what can I get you guys to drink?”
While we waited for our sandwiches, I decided to get my brother’s take on the friends with benefits situation. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Hang on.” Xander was looking at his phone. “Kelly just texted back. She said she’d love to stay at your house and she’s asking for your number so she can call you and get all the information.”
“Great. Send her my contact info.”
“Thanks.” He tapped his screen a couple times and set his phone down again. “Now, what was it you wanted to ask me?”
I tried to sound casual, even though Xander would know in less than half a second why I was asking. “Have you ever had, like, a friends-with-benefits kind of arrangement with someone?”
“Nah.” He leaned back in the booth, stretched one arm along the top. “Those things are a myth, like dragons or comfortable dress shoes.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because sooner or later, one of you starts to feel things. If you’re so into someone that you want to sleep with them again and again, there’s good chemistry there. And in my experience, it’s impossible to keep that chemistry from changing things.”
I considered that. “Even if you both agreed at the beginning it was all in fun and there were no strings attached?”
“Yes. Because somehow, strings get created. And people get attached.”
I nodded, watching Ari appear from behind the counter and greet some people at a table up front. She looked so happy. Was it selfish of me to hope the light in her eyes had at leastsomethingto do with last night?
“Are you listening to me?”
Realizing Xander had said a few things I hadn’t heard, I refocused on him. “Sorry. I got distracted for a second. I’m listening.”
“Look, I’m not trying to tell you what to do,” Xander said. “But let me tell you whatnotto do.”
