When We Break by Piper Lennox

Author:Piper Lennox [Lennox, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Belienne Press
Published: 2018-07-03T16:00:00+00:00

Colby

The restaurant is tucked back on the beach like a cluster of lanterns. We have to cross a plank walk to get there. I feel the wild grass growing through the spaces between the boards, brushing the bare fronts of my legs, as Orion takes my hand.

The beach views aren’t the only romantic factor: when I look away from the rich orange and red of the sunset, caught inside the waves, I notice the thick satin cloths on every table, tealights blinking inside hurricane jars. A real violinist plays dreamy covers of pop songs at the far end of the deck.

Orion slides my chair out for me. I get that flutter in my stomach all over again as I thank him.

“I was wondering if you’d ever ask me out,” I confess, after we’ve exhausted all avenues of safe topics: the menu, the wine list, commentary on the guests surrounding us. “Sometimes I’d get the feeling you liked me, then...not.”

If he adjusts his tie anymore, it’ll wear through the collar. It makes me less nervous to know he’s nervous. We’re both feeling our way along, here.

“Yeah...I could have been more clear about that.” He sips his wine, something from the dry list; I opted for rosé. I like how he swirls his glass first, watching the legs stick and slide like a weeping willow in reverse. “I actually liked you as soon as—”

“Oh, no.” I cover my mouth until I finish the sip I just took, its sugar cramping the back of my jaw. “Don’t say, ‘As soon as we met,’ because that’s impossible. I can tell, I pissed you off bad telling you not to replace the cat.”

He pauses patiently, smiling. “I was going to say, as soon as you came back to my hotel room. Which doesn’t sound much better, since you were having a panic attack and all...but, yeah. That’s when I first felt it.”

I make a face. He laughs.

“I know, I know. But I guess it just showed me this part of you that...that I could really relate to. And when you said I’d made that day easier for you, I realized you’d made it easier for me, too. A lot easier.” He rearranges his silverware on the appetizer plate and wets his lips. “There was also this thing, when I told you London didn’t have friends? It seemed like you weren’t judging her for it. Or judging me, for ‘letting’ it happen.”

“I wasn’t,” I assure him. I put my hands in my lap so he can’t see me fidgeting. “That’s how I was, as a kid. Not a lot of friends, kept to myself.”

Orion sits back in his chair, eyebrows raised. “Really? I never would have guessed.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, I really wouldn’t think that. You’ve got this confidence about you that I equate with having lots of friends. Like Walt.”

The tablecloth swishes back and forth over my shins as my foot bounces, the heel sliding in and out of my shoe. This isn’t a topic

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