Page 107 of Gator Queen
My heart sped up. The way Alex kept swallowing, and his goofy little smile, told me that he was going to ask me out. Oh, dear. This would be awkward. I liked Alex, but not in that way.
Plus, Jack. They had such a good bromance going. It was kind of shocking that Alex hadn’t noticed the attraction between the two of us.
Alex cleared his throat. “The place looks great,” he said.
“Thanks. It does. Vera worked so hard.”
We both nodded.
“What did you want to ask me?” I prodded, wanting to get this over with.
“Oh, right. Um.” He paused and ran a hand over his dirty-blond beard. He was handsome, but not at all my type.
“Keep this between us, please.”
“Of course.”
“Do you think your sister might want to hang out? With me? Maybe for coffee or something? I know she was dating Tyler and all, but I didn’t get the impression they’d been together long. Or that she was that into him.”
I gasped, then exploded in laughter. Alex looked horrified.
“Sorry, sorry.” I gulped down the rest of my champagne as relief flowed through me like the alcohol’s bubbles. “I’m not laughing at you. I do this when I’m nervous. I apologize. My sister is not in love with Tyler, and she’s very much single. I think she’d enjoy going on a date with you.”
“You wouldn’t mind? I know that we had our differences there, for a little while.”
“Are you kidding? It’s a great idea.” I beamed. “The two of you make a great match. You should ask her out right this second. Seriously. I think it’s cute that you even wanted my opinion.”
“I wanted to broach the topic with you, because you know her best. And you seem so protective of her. I’ve never met anyone who wanted to prove someone innocent like you did.”
“She’s my twin. My best friend. My everything.” Tears came to my eyes, and through the blur I saw Jack near the counter, laughing with Vera. She was showing him the photo of us and our parents. “C’mon. Let’s go chat with her.”
We walked over to the counter and I slipped my hand through Jack’s arm. He smiled at me, and I beamed at my sister. She looked up shyly at Alex, who seemed adorably nervous around her as he gripped his champagne and cleared his throat.
“Is that the two of you?” He pointed to the framed photo.
“This is us when we were five, with our dad. Even back then we were trapping gators. My sister and I are fierce. You should come with us on a trapping call sometime,” she said to Jack and Alex, but mostly to Alex.
“I’d like that,” he said.
She twirled a lock of her hair. It was hilarious how she loved to flirt and watching her brought a wide smile to my face. Tonight, she was fizzing away like a bottle of pink champagne.
To be honest, I was too.
“A toast,” Jack said, holding up his champagne. The three of us did as well.
“To the Gator Queens,” he said. “May they trap alligators, sell books, and solve crimes.”
We all took long sips of our bubbly and chatted. Eventually, Vera and Alex drifted away. She claimed she wanted to show him her favorite romance novel.
I turned to Jack. “What are you doing later?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Dunno. What are you doing?”
“Hopefully more of this.”
I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. It was time to rethink the concept of happy-ever-after.
— THE END —
