wrong, and we weren’t. That didn’t make it feel any less like he’d caught us.
“I’ll talk to him. As much as I don’t care if people know, I agree. It’s better if we tell them. I’ll take care of it.”
If we tell them. As happy as I was being out with Tanner this summer, I couldn’t imagine us being out at school. My mother’s reaction played over in my head. What if everyone was like that? What if Gino fired me? What if Tanner couldn’t talk Eric into staying quiet and everyone knew by the time we got back to campus? Would they be okay with it? I didn’t know a single out person at our school.
“Collin.”
Tanner’s voice shook me back to the present. “What?”
“Don’t worry about Eric, okay? He’s a good guy.”
I nodded, not at all sure that being a good guy meant he could keep a secret, let alone that it meant he was okay with the idea of me and Tanner as a couple.
The waitress brought our check, and Tanner stuck cash in the folder.
“Ready?”
I was more than ready to be anywhere but there.
Chapter Twenty-One
ALL THOSE old sayings about bad luck coming in threes and how when it rains it pours seemed to be coming true. I woke up to e-mails from the school about how one of my loan forms had gotten lost and if they didn’t have a signed copy on their desk by the end of the day, I could be un- enrolled from my classes.
After three hours of phone calls and e-mails proving they already had the damned forms, they finally figured out that they’d put them in someone else’s file. By then I was late for work, so Dorothy stuck me in the worst station at the restaurant. My shift seemed endless, but I knew I’d be in better favor with Dorothy if I stayed to help close, so I did. So did Jason. I think he took pity on me because I was having such a shit day.
When the last chair was up on the tables and the floor had been swept, I took off my apron and sighed. Jason clapped a hand on my shoulder. “It’s after midnight. It’s a new day.”
“Thank God. Let’s hope it’s a better one.”
“You headed home?”
I thought I was, but then I realized that since I was twenty-one, I could go to Oz. We could grab a drink, and then I could walk home with Tanner when he got off. “You want to get a beer or something?”
“Sure.”
Oz was pretty quiet. Only a handful of people were outside the door instead of the usual mob. I wove through them and headed inside.
Scanning the bar, I saw it was slow there too. Two bartenders stacked glasses, and only a handful of customers were in the row of seats. I wondered if maybe Tanner had headed home early because it was slow.
I recognized one of the bartenders Tanner had introduced me to a few times. “Hey, Tommy, is Tanner still around?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He leaned to the side to look around. “He went out on the floor for a while. He was with that Amy chick.”
Amy. It figured. I wasn’t in the mood for her tonight, but I did want to let Tanner know I was there. I turned to Jason. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded, and I heard him ordering a beer as I headed off across the dance floor. I couldn’t find Tanner anywhere. He wasn’t in any of the booths, wasn’t by the restrooms or the DJ table. I’d even peered into the storage area behind the bar. Jason caught my eye, and I shrugged to let him know I was still looking.
The only place I hadn’t checked was outside on the deck. I poked my head out the door and took a quick look around. Most of the tables were empty, and neither Tanner nor Amy were anywhere in sight. I was about to go back inside when I noticed a couple on the far side of the deck. They leaned against the wooden banister, heads close. My stomach recognized them before my brain. It was Tanner and Amy. I couldn’t see them clearly, but it was definitely them. His dark hair against her blonde mane, her pink nails against his black Oz shirt. They were hugging, at the very least. If
Amy had her say, they’d be
“I’ll talk to him. As much as I don’t care if people know, I agree. It’s better if we tell them. I’ll take care of it.”
If we tell them. As happy as I was being out with Tanner this summer, I couldn’t imagine us being out at school. My mother’s reaction played over in my head. What if everyone was like that? What if Gino fired me? What if Tanner couldn’t talk Eric into staying quiet and everyone knew by the time we got back to campus? Would they be okay with it? I didn’t know a single out person at our school.
“Collin.”
Tanner’s voice shook me back to the present. “What?”
“Don’t worry about Eric, okay? He’s a good guy.”
I nodded, not at all sure that being a good guy meant he could keep a secret, let alone that it meant he was okay with the idea of me and Tanner as a couple.
The waitress brought our check, and Tanner stuck cash in the folder.
“Ready?”
I was more than ready to be anywhere but there.
Chapter Twenty-One
ALL THOSE old sayings about bad luck coming in threes and how when it rains it pours seemed to be coming true. I woke up to e-mails from the school about how one of my loan forms had gotten lost and if they didn’t have a signed copy on their desk by the end of the day, I could be un- enrolled from my classes.
After three hours of phone calls and e-mails proving they already had the damned forms, they finally figured out that they’d put them in someone else’s file. By then I was late for work, so Dorothy stuck me in the worst station at the restaurant. My shift seemed endless, but I knew I’d be in better favor with Dorothy if I stayed to help close, so I did. So did Jason. I think he took pity on me because I was having such a shit day.
When the last chair was up on the tables and the floor had been swept, I took off my apron and sighed. Jason clapped a hand on my shoulder. “It’s after midnight. It’s a new day.”
“Thank God. Let’s hope it’s a better one.”
“You headed home?”
I thought I was, but then I realized that since I was twenty-one, I could go to Oz. We could grab a drink, and then I could walk home with Tanner when he got off. “You want to get a beer or something?”
“Sure.”
Oz was pretty quiet. Only a handful of people were outside the door instead of the usual mob. I wove through them and headed inside.
Scanning the bar, I saw it was slow there too. Two bartenders stacked glasses, and only a handful of customers were in the row of seats. I wondered if maybe Tanner had headed home early because it was slow.
I recognized one of the bartenders Tanner had introduced me to a few times. “Hey, Tommy, is Tanner still around?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He leaned to the side to look around. “He went out on the floor for a while. He was with that Amy chick.”
Amy. It figured. I wasn’t in the mood for her tonight, but I did want to let Tanner know I was there. I turned to Jason. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded, and I heard him ordering a beer as I headed off across the dance floor. I couldn’t find Tanner anywhere. He wasn’t in any of the booths, wasn’t by the restrooms or the DJ table. I’d even peered into the storage area behind the bar. Jason caught my eye, and I shrugged to let him know I was still looking.
The only place I hadn’t checked was outside on the deck. I poked my head out the door and took a quick look around. Most of the tables were empty, and neither Tanner nor Amy were anywhere in sight. I was about to go back inside when I noticed a couple on the far side of the deck. They leaned against the wooden banister, heads close. My stomach recognized them before my brain. It was Tanner and Amy. I couldn’t see them clearly, but it was definitely them. His dark hair against her blonde mane, her pink nails against his black Oz shirt. They were hugging, at the very least. If
Amy had her say, they’d be
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