Page 32 of Gatsby's Starlet
No.
Evie wasn’t like that—didn’t feel like that—and I’d been around enough people, enough lies, to know when something was off, when something didn’t line up the way it should. Nothing about her set those alarms off.
If anything… she felt right.
And that, that was probably the more dangerous thing.
I shook the thought off and headed outside, swinging a leg over my bike and bringing it to life beneath me before I could talk myself into overthinking something that didn’t need it.
By the time I pulled onto the road, the doubt had already started to fade beneath the familiar rhythm of the engine and the night air cutting clean against my face.
Evie was a good person, I felt that in my bones, in that quiet, instinctive way that didn’t come around often but never really steered me wrong, and that had to count for something, had to mean more than the kind of doubt that didn’t quite have anything solid behind it.
By the time I reached High Voltage, I’d shoved the whole thing far enough out of my head to breathe again, pulling my phone from my pocket before heading inside and typing out a quick message.
Stop by High Voltage tonight?
I barely made it a few steps toward the door before my phone buzzed in my hand.
Sure. After I close up at six. I’ll stop in before heading home.
A grin pulled at my mouth before I could stop it, easy and automatic in a way that said more than I probably wanted to look too closely at.
“What the hell are you smilin’ at?”
Chain’s voice hit me the second I stepped inside, and I barely had time to pocket my phone before he was already looking at me like he had it figured out.
“Never mind,” he added with a smirk. “I already know. You’re already whipped.”
I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head as I moved behind the bar. “This coming from a man who can’t be away from Lark for more than a few hours without turning into an ass?”
“Fuck off,” he shot back, flipping me off without missing a beat as he turned and headed straight for Lark, who had just come out from the back.
I watched him go for a second, still smiling a little despite myself, before reaching for a glass and getting to work.
CHAPTER TEN
“IT’S BEAUTIFUL,” JASMINEsaid, her fingersalready moving over the beadwork like she needed to feel every inch of it before letting it go.
I glanced down at the dress between us, the black fabric catching the light just enough to make the stitching shimmer. “I know… I about lost my mind when I found that one,” I said with a small shake of my head. “Woman passed, and her husband just… cleared everything out. Whole wardrobe. A friend called me before it hit the curb, and I got there as fast as I could.”
Jasmine made a soft sound under her breath, still smoothing her hands over it. “I swear, I never get tired of coming in here.”
I handed her card back. “Your bank account probably does.”
“Oh, it absolutely does,” she laughed, tucking it into her purse. “But I don’t listen to it.”
“Same,” I said with a small shrug. “Money comes, money goes. I’ll make more tomorrow.”
She grinned at that. “Can you explain that to my husband?”
I snorted lightly. “Yeah… husbands aren’t really my area of expertise.”
“Fair enough.” She gathered the dress carefully, like it mattered, which it did, and started toward the door. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
“I’ll be here,” I called after her.
The bell chimed as she stepped out, and I stood there a second, watching her through the window, that quiet little satisfaction settling in my chest when something found the right person.
