“I’m not walking back into that house without Kayla’s favorite ice cream. Since you dragged me with you straight into the doghouse, you’re coming with me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ASHLIE
Hunter
Still on for lunch today?
Me
Can’t. Short staffed.
Hunter
You’re not taking a lunch break?
Me
No, Hunter.
The “Day after New Year’s” sale left the Fit4U building a disaster. I had the day off, but the employees who worked didn’t bother to reset the store before closing last night. When I walked in this morning, it looked like someone had robbed the place. Disheveled clothing racks. Hangers scattered across the orange vinyl floor. Supplements peppered around the store.I’m really starting to hate it here.
Olivia called in “sick,” so Hannah and I have been rushing around all morning trying to do two days’ worth of store prep in a few hours. Exhausted is an understatement. Everything is in shambles today, mimicking exactly how I feel inside.
And now, Hunter wants to have our standing lunch appointment like this past weekend wasn’t a completely shitty way to blow up our friendship. Like everything can go back to normal. The things he confessed, the conviction in his voice, it all sent me into a panic. There’s no rug in existence big enough to sweep all of that under.
Thank God Kayla was still in town. If it weren’t for her rushing to my apartment when I called, I’d still be curled up on my couch, devastated that Hunter thinks of me as just another woman on his roster. I bawled to her for hours at the thought of losing one of my best friends. Confessing to her about my feelings for Hunter was a messy, snotty display. But today is a new day, and I’m too tired to deal with any of it.
My stomach alerts me when lunchtime rolls around, growling with a fickle reminder of where I would usually be now. The clock on the wall confirms it, and I didn’t have the forethought to pack a lunch from home. Leaning on the counter behind the register, I dig my phone out of my pocket and pull up a list of local delivery places. Right as I decide on a turkey wrap from Lunch-a-Bunch, a message flashes on my screen.
Hunter
Hey…so, I brought you lunch.
Me
…
Hunter
I realize you might not want to see me…
So, I’ll count to 60 before coming in. If you want to hide out in the back, I can leave it by the register.
Frozen for several seconds, I reread his messages while lightning bugs dance around the muddled questions in my mind. I know he can see the bouncing dots as I type and erase potential responses, but I’m mind-blown. He’s never gone out of his way to bring me lunch before. We’ve gone out to lunch, sure. But bringing lunch to a woman after everything he confessed doesn’t feel like a friendly favor. It feels like a romantic gesture. I’m nervous to see him face-to-face, but my intrigue gets the best of me.
Me
K
Hunter
Counting now…
It would take ten steps to get to the back room and avoid looking into those infuriating green eyes. Easy. Send the message loud and clear that I don’t want to talk to him. Never mind my clenching thighs as I remember his lips on mine. Stepping into the breakroom would halt the flitter-flutter-flop in my belly long enough to remind myself. It would only take ten steps, and yet, I can’t move one. Can’t extinguish the glimmer of excitement inside.I want to see him.
The door chimes, and my thumbnail slips between my teeth. My eyes trail up the khaki-covered legs walking toward me as I will the tripleFof my heart-stomach combo to slow down.Flitter-flutter-flop.Flitter.Flutter.Fl?—
