Page 50 of Fire Away


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She rolls her eyes and huffs. “Who? Drop it, girl. You know exactly who I’m talking about and if you keep finding a way to only see him once a week he’s going to roll over and die.”

“We’ve both been busy,” I throw out the excuse. I can’t lie though, I would rather see him more than once a week too. I find myself wishing the customer appreciation event was this Friday instead of next.

“Yeah, that’s true. He works around the clock these days it seems like. I think it’s just to distract himself and not smother you, though,” she laughs. “Oh my god. Look atthis.”

I look up from the rack of skirts that I was continuing to browse through, scrunching my nose up at the tiny thing that she’s holding up.

“Can you even call that a shirt? It’s basically lingerie.” It’s gorgeous, but it’s nothing more than a tiny scrap of lace.

“Okay it’s a little skimpy. But you would rock it,” she laughs. “At least try it on.”

Picturing myself in the top she’s holding up, that’s nowhere near my usual style, has me mirroring her laugh and envisioning the look on Warren’s face if he saw me in it. I reach my hand out and sigh.

Addshopping for clothesto the list of things that I can’t manage to do without thinking about him.

Shaking my head to clear my spinning thoughts, I reach my hand out. “I could try it on, I guess.”

She squeals and puts the hanger in my hand. “Take pics. I’m going to look at shoes.”

I clutch the hanger in my hand while Blythe walks over to the shoe display. After finding an open dressing room and then locking the door behind me, I slip off the cropped cotton t-shirt and light blue bralette that I wore in.

My fingers dance across the lace as I pull the bodysuit off the hanger. It doesn’t fit over my head at first, but then I realize that there’s a small zipper on the side. Once it’s finally situated, I tuck the bottom into my high-waisted jean shorts and pull the side zipper back up.

It’s . . . very tight.

My boobs are closer to my neck than I think they’ve ever been. I pull on the built-in cups that do almost nothing to hide my nipples, attempting to tame the girls at least a little bit. The center is low cut, dipping down just above my belly button.

Do girls wear this out? I feel next to naked, honestly. My eyes narrow and I run my hands over the material as I look at myself in the full-length mirror.

I can’t stop my next thought wondering what Warren would say if he saw me in this. As soon as it enters my head, my phone vibrates. My hand flies to the back pocket of my shorts, reaching for it. Like I manifested it in my mind, it’s a text from Warren.

Warren

Still shopping?

I cock a hip and smile while staring down at the screen.

I’m with B, what do you think?

Warren

haha figured.

Office or ranch today? Or did you decide to take the weekend off for once

Warren

Office.

Just a little paperwork nothing major. Are you going back to your house after shopping?

I think so. I have a lot of reading to do before a meeting on Monday.

The incoming text bubbles pop up and disappear again for a minute as they tend to do when we text. I watch them and wonder what he wants to say but never does. Why is it so hard for me to kick down the barrier and ask him if he wants to hang out even if my boss isn’t around to see us together? Why is it so hard for me to believe that I could be loved?

My stubbornness rears its ugly head and I’m running out of reasons why I shouldn’t try harder to shut it down.

Vulnerability takes time for me, but Warren has been patient. I’m not sure how much longer I can pretend that I don’t adore that about him. Continuing to mask my feelings with insecurity while he so openly cares about me doesn’t feel as necessary as it once did.