He’d been expecting the staff to be there, along with Gavin’s family, so it was a surprise to find what looked like half the population of Whitford in the diner. It took him a while to find Tori, since she was shorter than most everybody else there, but he finally spotted her in the back corner with her aunt and uncle and started toward her.
Halfway there, he was hit by a sudden wave of anxiety. He knew Mike a bit, since he made it over for a few games now and then, but he didn’t really know Jilly at all. Right now, she was the closest thing Tori had to a reliable mother figure and he had no idea how Jilly might feel about their relationship. Or how much she even knew.
“I told you you’d shake each other up.”
Max looked down at Ava, who’d moved in next to him, and was confused until he remembered the advice she’d given him after his second and final date with Nola. But discretion seemed to be in order, or at least as much as was possible. “Tori and I are friends.”
“Mmm-hmm. What is it the young folk call that nowadays? Friends with incentives?”
“Benefits. Friends with benefits.” He told himself it was a correction, not an admission.
“Right. But you need to start thinking long-term. Like friends with retirement plans.”
Max stared at the clock on the wall, wondering if the hands were even moving. An hour, she’d said. The festivities were limited to an hour by the diner closing, but did that mean Tori had to stay the entire hour?
Ava chuckled. “You’re an odd duck, Max Crawford. I like you.”
The way she said it, with amusement but also what sounded like affection, made him look at her. “I think I like you, too.”
“I grow on people. It takes a while.” She shook her finger at him. “But you take my advice and start working on that retirement plan.”
She walked away and Max inwardly cringed when he realized Tori had spotted him at some point and was definitely within earshot. “A retirement plan?”
Max shrugged. “Ava was giving me some financial advice.”
“Ava? Really?”
He didn’t blame her for being skeptical and went for a change of subject. “I was on my way over to say hello. You were with your aunt and uncle.”
“They’re so excited for Gavin they can’t stand still for more than two minutes. And he’s just as bad. They’re definitely moving targets tonight.”
They moved around themselves, making small talk with different people as they went. Max was surprised by how well he managed. Between making the effort to get to know people over the last month and a half and having Tori at his side, he was comfortable in the crowd. Two parties in a row, he thought, where he hadn’t made excuses to leave early.
Not that he was complaining when the cake had been eaten and the neon open sign shut off. There was still the walking home to look forward to, as soon as Tori was finished saying goodbye to her cousin.
While she had her arms wrapped around Gavin’s neck, telling him how wonderfully he was going to do, Max shook Mike’s hand and then Jilly’s, congratulating them. Tori’s aunt seemed nice as she talked about how proud she was of her son and how strange it was going to be not having him around. There were no sideways glances or speculative questions.
Once he’d gotten the chance to wish Gavin luck, it was finally time to head out. Once they were on the sidewalk, she slipped her hand in his and they walked silently in the cold night air.
*
Tori tossed her keys onto her counter and took a deep breath. She’d lured Max into attending the party with the promise of walking her home, both of them knowing what that really meant.
But it had been a really crappy afternoon and, after the effort of putting her mood aside to enjoy the party, she just wanted to curl up in a ball and feel sorry for herself. Max’s arms slid around her waist and she sighed.
He kissed the back of her neck. “You’re very tense.”
“I had a rough day, actually.”
“Then sit down and I’ll make you some hot cocoa.”
“That sounds good. I’m going to change first, though.” Comfortable sweats were a pretty universal not in the mood signal, but she wasn’t sure if Max would pick up on it or not.
Her mug was already on the coffee table when she was done making herself less attractive, and he joined her on the couch when his was ready. He didn’t seem to even register the sweats, but he left a little space between them.
“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” he asked. “Is it Gavin leaving?”
“No. My mom called earlier, about Thanksgiving.” She sighed and leaned her head back against the couch. “And Hailey interlibrary loaned me some books about divorce and toxic relationships and stuff, and they’ve been weighing on my mind a lot.”