Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
VIOLET
“Hey, Liv,” I yell through the kitchen.
“Yeah,” I hear in the distance before she pokes her head into the kitchen.
I tilt my chin towards the sourdough bread lying out on the counter. “Those are ready to be wrapped and set out front.”
“Okay.”
Opening day is tomorrow, and Liv and I have been here all day preparing for it.
I’ve been baking while she helps put the baked goods out front.
This is the first day she and I have worked together.
This morning I gave her the rundown on taking orders on the iPad and how to make the different coffees we’ll be offering.
She jumped right in, eager to work and learn.
She doesn’t question anything I ask her to do.
The only questions I’ve been getting from her are ones that will help her learn.
We’ve been so busy that I have had little time to get to know Liv. She seems like a good kid; she’s just lost in what direction she wants to go in life.
“So, I invited some of my friends to come tomorrow,” she says, raising her head up, catching my gaze. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course it is.”
Silence fills the room. I want to get to know Liv. But what do you even ask an eighteen-year-old?
“So, are you dating anyone?” I ask. Swallowing the lump in my throat. Is this something you ask?
One side of her lip rises. “Ugh. No.”
I giggle. “Why, ugh?”
“Because boys are stupid.”
“You got that right.”
She pauses what she’s doing and looks at me. “So they never get any better?”
My loud laugh echoes through the kitchen, and my mind lands on Zayn. “Not really,” I say, shaking my head. “Well, some do. My ex never did.”
“Really? What did he do?”
“Uh.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she offers.
“He cheated on me.”
“No!”
I nod my head slowly, wondering if this is a conversation I should have with her.
“How did you find out?”
“I got records of his text messages from our phone carrier.”
Her head tilts in curiosity. “You can do that?”
“Yup.”
She blinks a few times, shaking her head. “What an ass—” she says, stopping mid-word. “I mean, he’s stupid.”
“He sure is.”
“Do you know who he cheated on you with?”
“Sure do. It was my best friend.”
She jerks back in shock. It’s the same reaction everyone else does when I tell them who it was with. “I’m so sorry.”
I shrug a shoulder, forcing a smile. “It’s okay.”
Both of our heads shift over to the sound of the chimes jiggling from the front door.
“I’ll get that,” she says, taking her gloves off and setting them on the counter.
She comes walking back in slowly with a bashful smile on her face. “There’s a guy here for you,” she whispers, followed by a gasp. “Wait! If it’s your ex, I’ll tell him you’re not here.”
My brows furrow because I don’t think it would be Zayn. I hope it’s not him. “Did he tell you who he was?”
“Ezra,” she whispers.
A smile tugs at my face, and my heart thuds against my chest a little faster. “It’s not my ex,” I say, looking down at my greasy hands. “Can you tell him to come back here?”
Her lips curl inward, nodding her head.
“She’s right here,” Liv says, with him following behind her.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I say over my shoulder as I finish washing my hands.
He lifts a box of pizza up. “I thought I would bring you ladies some dinner.”
I grab a towel and finish wiping off my hands. This moment seems like the moment I would take to go up to him and give him a kiss. But I don’t know what to do. We’ve had sex, so why am I overthinking this?
“Thank you. That’s so sweet of you,” I say, shifting my focus to Liv. “Liv, this is Ezra. Ezra, this is Liv.”
“Hi,” Liv says, with a small wave.
“Nice to meet you,” Ezra says, tilting his head down a little.
She grabs the bread that is ready to be set out front. “I’ll go set these out front.”
“She’s nice,” Ezra says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“She is, and she’s been so helpful. She’ll do great working here.”
The sound of the jingle catches me off guard again, followed by a loud, “Hello.”
My brows furrow again, wondering what she’s doing here.
Ezra shifts his body, letting me walk past him. He follows behind me as we head to the front.
Haley stops mid-step, the balloons in her hand swaying wildly from the sudden halt as she freezes just before reaching the kitchen. “Hey,” she says, her eyes shining bright.
Ezra comes around me and stops at my side.
“Oh, hi,” she says, eyeing him, surprised. “I came to drop off these balloons for tomorrow.”
“Haley, this is Ezra. Ezra, this is Haley.” I hurry and introduce them before Haley thinks he might be my ex.
“Oh, hi.”
“Hi,” Ezra says, reaching his hand out. He softly takes her hand in his and shakes it.
“I’ve heard so much about you.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, and my face heats up.
“Well, I hope it’s all good,” he says, releasing her hand.
“Of course it is.”
Wow. What a cliché moment that just played out right before my eyes.
“I should go now so I can let you all finish everything.” Ezra turns to me. “I’ll see you at home,” he says softly, hesitantly stepping towards me, placing a kiss on my cheek.
“Okay,” I say, tilting my head down in shyness. Does he feel the same way as I do, not knowing how to act when we say hi or bye—like we’re back in high school, nervous around each other when we would catch one another staring.
The jingle of the bells rings out as he steps outside. Both Haley and Liv are staring back at him as he walks to his truck.
“Okay, you can stop staring. He’s going to see you,” I announce, staring at him getting into his truck that’s facing us.
Both of them turn back towards me. Haley’s mouth is parted open, and Liv is biting her bottom lip.
“He’s cute,” Liv says.
“Yeah. Girl, what the hell? You never told me how hot he is,” she says, bumping my shoulder, and the balloons sway again.
“Who is he?” Liv asks.
I stay quiet, my thoughts tangled. Truthfully, I don’t even know what he is to me anymore. Besides my best friend. But even that even feels different now. There’s something unspoken sitting in the space between us. He’s more than a friend now. I think, anyway?
I avoid all the eyes on me. “Ugh…” I pause. “It’s complicated.”
“The way he looks at you tells me you need to uncomplicate things and keep him around,” Haley says.
“She’s right. I think he’s in love with you,” Liv says.
Love?
What does she know about love?
But then again, maybe she’s right. If she can recognize it at such a young age, maybe it’s because it’s written all over his face.
And I never allowed myself to see. I know we love each other; we always have, but that love has always been more of a caring type of love, not an in-love.
At least, that’s what I told myself after high school.
“Okay, everyone back to work,” I say, returning myself to the kitchen, ignoring their googly eyes.