4
Zeke
I pulled the shirt over my head, smoothing any wrinkles out of it. It was a little after eleven, so my date with Tasha was coming up. I was oddly excited about meeting her. I hadn’t dated much in my life. Women weren’t on my radar because all my focus has been on basketball since I was a kid. I only messed around with groupies. I knew they weren’t looking for long-term. But Tasha intrigued me, and with how things were going lately, I needed a distraction. The thought that I could be forced to retire at twenty-eight years old always lurked in the back of my mind. That was a reality I wasn’t ready to face and talking to Tasha helped me ignore it.
As I sat on my bed to tie my sneakers, my mind went to Mallory. I hadn’t seen her again, but she was taking up space rent-free in my head. We grew up together in Burlington—right across the street from each other. My family and I moved into the house when I was three. I was dribbling a basketball in the driveway and Mallory came over with her mom to ask me how I did that. We spent the afternoon with me trying to teach her how to dribble a basketball. I don’t remember that, but our parents loved to tell the story when we were growing up. We were inseparable and did everything together until we were in junior high. Things got complicated. I hadn't known how to maintain my friendship with Mallory while also fostering friendships with my new teammates. I hurt her a lot in that last year we were friends. I hate that I did, and if I could go back in time, I’d do it all differently.
But it was clear she hadn’t gotten over the things I’d done to her, so it was best that I avoided Mallory.
I checked out myself in the floor-length mirror before grabbing my phone and wallet and leaving my room. I stuffed them into my pockets as I headed to the front of the house. I had to wait until my truck warmed up before I could go, and I was already cutting it close. I hadn’t missed the winters in Vermont while I was away. I hoped my next destination could be somewhere that stayed warm all year long.
I pulled into a parking spot at The Busy Bean, near the patio exit, and climbed out of my truck. I was walking towards the main entrance when a flash of purple in my peripheral caught my attention. I peeked into the window to see a slouchy purple beanie. I wanted to see if I could get a glimpse of Tasha before I officially met her. When she finally turned so that her face was visible, my stomach dropped, and I froze. This couldn’t be happening.
Mallory Barrett was the woman sitting with a purple beanie on like Tasha said she’d be wearing. Well, damn. Mallory was Tasha. My old friend was the funny woman who had a way of making me forget about everything. And she hated my guts.
I backed up before turning to head back to my truck. I couldn’t go in there to meet Mallory and tell her that I was “Coby.” As much as I hated standing her up, that was exactly what I did as I got into my truck and drove away.
5
Mallory
Me: Hey, is everything okay?
That message taunted me. I’d sent it after I noticed that Coby was fifteen minutes late. Fifteen minutes turned into thirty and he still hadn’t shown up. I gave up hope he was running late after an hour. I let out a frustrated sigh. I hadn’t even considered Coby standing me up. We’d clicked online, and it wasn’t like we had to date because we’d met for coffee. It could have been casual, but I guess even that was too much for him.
The message I’d sent him went unread, and he hadn’t even bothered to explain what the hell happened. I felt like an idiot for being so excited about meeting him. I should have known better. Men couldn’t be trusted, and because I forgot that, I was the one who ended up hurt or looking stupid.
I ended up leaving the Bean earlier than I had planned. I couldn’t sit there after what happened with Carlie giving me sympathetic looks. My concentration was shot, so I came home to wallow.
The front door opened, and I looked up to see Stacey step into the house. Her pretty face broke out into a huge smile when she looked at me. “Tell me everything. Was he cute? Was he as nice in person as he’d been online? Did you two have amazing chemistry in person as well?”
She plopped down on the couch beside me after shooting question after question at me. Once she was sitting, though, she got a better look at my face and her smile slipped before disappearing altogether. I hated to deflate her excitement, but it wasn’t my fault.
“Did you back out of the date?” she asked.
“Why do you assume it was me who backed out?”
“Experience? From knowing you for years and you doing just that numerous times.”
“Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you,” I muttered.
“Because I’m awesome,” she said without hesitation. “Tell me what happened.”
“He stood me up.”
“He did? That’s unexpected. I never considered him not showing up. The two of you clicked when you were talking through the dating app.”
“I guess that’s just online. In real life, he’s a dick who stands people up with no explanation.”
“You haven’t heard from him?”
I shook my head. “I sent a message, but it’s been unread this whole time.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me closer. I let her hold me because I needed it. While I’d told myself not to get my hopes up about Coby, I guess I kind of did. He was the first guy I’d felt any kind of connection with in a long time. He made me laugh, which was important to me. We could also talk about anything, from the latest books and movies to sports—not basketball because he said he didn’t like it, but we both enjoyed baseball and tennis. It seemed promising and I’d been looking forward to meeting him, to putting a face to the man behind the screen, but I guess I’d never know now.
“Let’s go get some cakes and coffee. You deserve it, Ror.”
“You don’t hear me objecting.”
“Well, then get your pretty ass up, and let’s go.”
I laughed as I stood, already feeling a little better. This right here was why Stacey was my best friend. She always knew what I needed to get me out of a funk.
Stacey stared at something, or maybe someone, over my shoulder, her dark brows furrowing. I sipped my iced cold-brew coffee, not bothering to turn to see what, or who, she was staring at.
“What’s he doing here?”
That question had me glancing back. When I caught sight of who she was talking about my stomach hollowed out. Zeke was standing in the short line waiting to order. Shit. I hadn’t told Stacey about seeing Zeke here in town even though it happened a couple of days ago. I hoped she’d run into him and I could pretend I hadn’t known he was here. That was kind of hard to do now with her sitting right in front of me as she saw him for the first time. I wasn’t the best liar. To be honest, I was horrible at it, and Stacey always knew when I was lying. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to pull it off even if things had gone the way I’d hoped.
“Zeke?”
Stacey’s dark eyes zeroed in on me. “You knew he was in town?”
“Yeah.”
“How long?”
“How long what?”
“Mallory,” she said, using her stern voice. “How long have you known that Zeke was in town? And do you know if he’s living here now?”
I took a long sip of my coffee, stalling for time. Stacey and Zeke dated for a couple of weeks during our sophomore year in high school after he took her to the homecoming dance. And while I knew Stacey and her usual type in men, there was still that pesky voice in the back of my mind telling me they may start dating again. Not that it should matter, but it’d stopped me from mentioning him.
“Just a couple of days, and I don’t know.”
She stared at me for a long, uncomfortable moment. I fought the urge to squirm in my seat. She finally looked away, and I felt relieved until I heard her call out Zeke’s name.
“Stacey,” I hissed.
“What?” she snapped. “He’s an old friend, and my southern upbringing doesn’t allow me not to sa
y hello.”
“Screw your southern upbringing. I know you’re up to something.”
A shadow fell over our table and I glanced up at Zeke’s gorgeous face. His whiskey-colored eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Stacey Harris,” he said with an easy grin, making the dimple in his right cheek pop.
“Zeke Armstrong,” Stacey said with a grin of her own that did nothing to ease my anxiety. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you doing?”
“Good,” she said.
“Hi, Ace,” Zeke said, turning his pretty eyes to me.
I gave him a half-wave, hating the fact that I had to be civil towards him. I resisted the urge to tell him not to call me that. I glanced at my friend, and the sparkle in her eyes had me gripping my cup tighter.
“I didn’t realize that you and Rory were friends,” Zeke commented, making conversation.
“It’s way more than that,” Stacey said. “Rory is my lesbian lover, and we live together. We’ve been together for years, but she refuses to marry me, which irritates me to no end. But at least she agreed to have a baby with me. We’re using a surrogate, of course, and we just found out that we’re having a precious little girl. I want to name her ‘Stacey,’ and Rory wants the baby to have her name too, so we compromised. We’re awesome like that. We’re naming our sweet baby girl, Staceory. How cute is that?”
I choked on the sip of coffee I’d been downing when she came up with that ridiculous story. I coughed a few times to clear my airways. I glared at Stacey who was giving me a saccharine smile. She’d seen right through my reason for not telling her that I’d seen Zeke and was getting me back.
“What the hell, Stace?” I asked once I gained the ability to speak again.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell Zeke all this, Rory. He deserves to know about the one true love of your life,” she said innocently.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said.
“Then who’d take care of little Staceory? We both know I’m the caring one in this relationship.”
I finally looked at Zeke who had an amused but slightly confused look in his light eyes. I closed my own, taking in several deep breaths and exhaling.
“None of that is true, Zeke,” I finally said. “My so-called friend is getting me back for something she thinks I did.”
“You definitely did it, babe. And you totally deserved that for thinking I was that kind of friend.”
“I’ll get your ass back one day,” I promised.
She blew me a kiss. “I’d like to see you try,” Stacey said. “Why don’t you join us, Zeke? We can catch up on old times.”
I kicked her shin as he grabbed a chair.
“That freaking hurt, Rory.”
“That was the point.”
Zeke came back, placing his chair at the end of the table we were at. I drank some more of my coffee and picked at my lemon-poppy muffin as I listened to Stacey and Zeke.
“So, how long have you been friends with Rory?” Zeke asked Stacey.
“Ten years now. We were paired up in college in the same dorm room and have been friends ever since. Not lesbian lovers, which I’m sure is a huge disappointment to you, but we’re still roommates to this day.”
I looked up to the heavens, praying for strength to get through this encounter. My friend sometimes worked my last nerve.
“I guess I’ll have to get over it,” Zeke said, followed with a soft laugh.
“That’s why I liked you,” she said. “So, tell me what brings you here? Are you staying in Colebury now? Seems a little small-time for a big-time pro basketball player.”
Zeke was always good at basketball and any other sport he played. When we were kids, we’d spend hours in his driveway playing one-on-one games of basketball. He was the one who taught me how to dribble, shoot, and pass a ball. We even played on the same team when we were in elementary school. But unlike me, he kept playing and went on to play for the pros. I would never tell him, but I’d followed his career since he decided to go to MSU. I watched as he was drafted by the Chicago Wolverines with my dad. I became a fan of the team when he joined them. Even though I didn’t want anything to do with Zeke, I couldn’t help rooting for him and hoping he got everything he wanted. It sucked when he couldn’t come back from the ankle injury at the beginning of his third year in the league. And it got worse from there until he was forced to play in the minor leagues and then going to play overseas. Since I hardly ever talked about Zeke, I didn’t know if Stacey followed his career too.
“I’m rehabbing an injury and getting in shape to get ready for free agency this summer. I’m staying with my cousin here in Colebury. It was time for me to come home after spending a year and a half in Australia. It made sense to rehab in Vermont.”
“I’ve seen you play a few times—when you were on the court, that is,” Stacey said.
Zeke nodded. “I hope I can make a comeback next year. I’m grateful Malik let me crash at his place for a little while.”
Stacey exchanged a look with me, a half-smile pulling at one corner of her lips. “Malik Armstrong?”
“Yeah. You know him?”
“She should since she works with him,” I said.
“Do you know what this means?” Stacey asked me.
“No,” I replied, not wanting to indulge her.
“You do. Now say it. You owe me that much.”
I resisted the urge to sigh again. “You now have an in for your ridiculous crush.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “It’s not ridiculous just because we work together, Mallory. You’ve seen him, and he’s worth crushing on.”
“If you say so, Stace. I guess it’s kind of crazy we didn’t put two and two together.”
“Not really. Armstrong is a quite common last name,” she said with a shrug.
“And I’m sure Malik doesn’t talk about me much,” Zeke added.
“It’s a small world, for sure,” Stacey said. “Tell me more of what’s been going on with you since we last saw you.”
I took another bite of my muffin while they talked, not contributing much. I wasn’t going to be flat-out rude, since Stacey was determined to get me back for keeping something from her. If I denied her now, I’d have to worry about her getting her revenge later. But it didn’t mean I had to engage with Zeke.
“Are you feeling any better, Ror?” Stacey said, finally including me in the conversation again.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “It’s not like I knew him well. I shouldn’t feel anything about what happened.”
“Some jerkwad Rory met on a dating app stood her up today. They were meeting for the first time and he didn’t show and ghosted her,” Stacey said to Zeke.
“I’m sorry that happened,” he said after a brief hesitation.
“It’s nothing, and I’m fine. Nothing an iced coffee and muffin couldn’t fix,” I said nonchalantly.
“Happy to be of service,” Stacey stated with a big grin.
“Thanks, friend. You’re the best.”
“She wants me, but I keep turning her down,” she stage-whispered to Zeke.
I flipped her off and Zeke chuckled, a deep, rich sound that shouldn’t have had any effect on me. But it did. Right between my legs. I pinched another piece off my muffin, popping it into my mouth. I wasn’t going to start crushing on Zeke. I never did when we were kids, and it wasn’t going to happen now. He’d proven that he was unreliable, and from what I’d learned, he had no plans to stay in Vermont. I wasn’t going to give him another chance to hurt me. He had enough of them when we were younger.
“Well, ladies and gents,” Stacey said, pushing her seat back. “I need to hit the ladies’ room. I’ll be back.”
She didn’t wait for either of us to say anything before she left me alone with Zeke.
6
Zeke
I felt bad about standing Mallory up. It was clear it’d affected her, and she was sad about it even though she tried to wave it off. But
I knew I couldn’t have come inside and told her I was Coby. If I’d thought the years between the last time I saw her had softened her up, I was proven wrong during our first encounter here at the Busy Bean a few days ago. Even tonight she was barely speaking to me. I knew coming inside to tell her that I was the guy she’d been talking to for the last week wasn’t going to go how I hoped.
Now that Stacey had left us alone, we’d descended into an awkward silence, and she refused to look at me.
“So, how long have you lived here?” I asked. I couldn’t take the strained silence any longer.
Mallory brought her dark eyes up to meet mine. She pursed her full lips, and I wondered if she was going to pretend like I hadn’t spoken to her. A second stretched into a minute, and I was convinced she was going to do just that. She finally answered my question.
“Stacey and I moved here three years ago.”
“Because you just liked the town?” I followed up.
She let out a sigh as if it bothered her to have to talk to me. Maybe it did. “Stacey got a job at your cousin’s company, so we moved here.”
We lapsed into silence again, and she pulled out her phone, which was a clear indication she was done having any kind of conversation with me. As she ignored me, I realized I may never get Mallory to talk to me. It shouldn’t matter. I should let it go, but I couldn’t. I’d had a thing for Mallory since I was fifteen. I tried to tell myself I was over her but being here and around her again was bringing all those old feelings up. I knew I didn’t deserve a second chance with her, but I wanted one. She was the distraction Daniel had warned me about, but how could I pass up the chance to reconnect with Mallory?
Doubletalk (The Busy Bean) Page 3
