eyebrows. “You both can bask in my awesome sauce.”
We both doubled over with laughter, clutching our stomachs.
“Did he seriously just use the term 'awesome sauce'?” I asked Rose between laughs.
She wiped her eyes and tried to contain her laughter. “Yeah, that was epic. Brandon, I never want to hear about your 'awesome sauce' again.”
He gestured between me and Rose, grin fully in place. “See girls? I knew you guys could get along.”
We stared at each other, animosity cutting through the air making it tense. “And there it went.” He muttered to himself. He sighed and stepped between us. “Look guys, I'm getting really tired of this bitch fest. Rose, you're awesome when you let people in, and I know your dad—”
“Don't talk about him.” She snapped, cutting him off with an icy glare.
“Ooookay, don't use the 'D' word, got it. Anyways, obviously you have some issues about 'he who must not be named', but I think you'll realize that Star isn't going to hurt your family, me included. So can't you just try to get along with her?” he continued without waiting for Rose's reply and turned his big, blue eyed puppy dog look onto me. “And Star, you're completely new here and school is starting in two weeks. Don't you think you could hold down the animosity long enough to get some friends? It's going to be hard enough starting a new school, let alone starting one where you already have an enemy.” He looked at me pointedly. I sighed and looked over at Rose. She was looking anywhere except for at me.
“Yeah, you're right. Believe it or not, I'm getting tired of this too. It would be nice if I could actually like coming into work instead of contemplating jumping off a bridge instead.” I sat down on top of the counter and looked at Rose. “Cease fire?”
She looked up at my offered hand. For a moment I thought she would bite it. “Fine. But I swear if she stabs us in the back it will all fall on you, Brandon.” She spat out while quickly shaking my hand.
He gathered up both of us for a big group hug. “See? I told you guys, we're all going to be besties!”
“I swear that is the gayest thing I've ever heard.” I said with a laugh, trying in vain to remove myself from his embrace.
“Well, what do you expect from the big oaf?” Rose said laughingly, nudging Brandon in the ribs with her elbow. “Now let go doofus, we've got to open the store.”
He released us and stepped back, his smile still firmly in place. “You know you love me.” He said with a wink, then sauntered to behind the counter, leaving us alone. We looked uneasily at each other. Having become so used to all the animosity I wasn't used to playing nice anymore, at least on a real level.
“So. You want to unlock the doors, or do you want me to?” I asked, looking toward the item in question. I could see the shadow of people outside the doors already.
She gestured toward them. “You go ahead. I've got some shipments in the back that I need to start working on. I swear my mom orders enough books for half the nation.”
I grabbed the keys from my pocket and sorted through them as I walked to the door. I found the right one and went to unlock it. “Shit.” I muttered while fighting with the lock. I wiggled the key back and forth, trying to get the lock to unlatch so I could open the store. “Hey Brandon!” I called over my shoulder. “The stupid door won't unlock!”
He looked up from behind the counter. “You've got to pull on the door while you're trying to unlock it, otherwise it will keep catching.” He shrugged and went back to stacking coffee cups.
I tried pulling and pushing on the door to unlock it. It was pissing me off. Nothing makes you feel more incompetent than your inability to open a door. “Stupid freaking door! I swear I will rip you off your hinges if — you— don't— open!” I yanked hard and flew back with the momentum of the pull as the door finally unlocked. “Damn it!” I looked up with a glare on my face as I heard a laugh from the doorway.
“This isn't funny!” I was getting ready to lay into whomever had the audacity to laugh until I saw who it was. I felt like laying back in utter embarrassment but instead I felt my face flush as I quickly rose to my feet. Figured the pizza guy would show up here eventually.
“Why do I always find you either about to fall, or falling for me?” he asked.
“Ha ha, aren't you funny? Well, at least I don't have pizza on my face this time.” I snapped back, blushing furiously.
“Yeah, that is an improvement.” His small smile reached all the way up to his amber eyes, causing the gold flecks to sparkle. He ran his fingers through his thick hair as he looked me over. “So, I see we've got a new employee here.”
“You don't work here too, do you?”
He laughed outright at the look of horror on my face. “God no. I just come here a lot.”
“Well, I haven't seen you in here yet.”
He leaned toward me and lowered his voice, “I'm not in
I felt a blush spread across my entire body as I moved back and waved him in. “Then by all means, do come it.” He laughed as he passed me by, heading toward the coffee counter.
“Gabe! What's up man?” Brandon called out to him.
“Not much, just coming in for some coffee.”
“Ah, the usual?”
“Yeah, if you don't mind. So how’s the new girl doing?” he gestured over his shoulder to me.
“The 'new girl' is right here, you know.”
Brandon raised his eyebrow at him. “She's a feisty one, that's for sure.”
“Really? I haven't noticed.” Gabe sent a grin my way. I thought my face would catch on fire with how much I blushed around him. Real attractive.
Brandon looked between me and Gabe. “So, how's Jenni doing?”
His smile faltered a little bit. “From what I hear, she's doing well. Coming back from vacation in a couple of days.”
Brandon finished up Gabe's order and handed it to him. “I bet you're happy she'll be home soon.”
Distracted, Gabe took his drink. “Yeah, it'll be fun.” He sent a soft smile my way then straightened and started heading out. “See ya around guys.”
I was momentarily distracted as I watched him leave. When Gabe was fully out of sight I turned to Brandon. “What was that about?”
He scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. “Well, that's Gabe.”
“Yeah, I gathered as much.”
He looked behind me and bellowed out. “Rose! I need ya here for a minute!” He waited for Rose to arrive, refusing to say anything more on the subject.
“Geesh, it’s going to take me forever to organize all those books.” Rose said while wiping her hands on a towel. “What are you hollering about?”
“Gabe was here.” He stated simply.
She raised her eyebrow and waited for him to continue. She let out a huff when he remained silent. “What about it?” he looked pointedly at me. I looked at Rose in confusion and she looked between the two of us, trying to get the point. I felt like we were in a tennis match as our eyes darted around each other. This was ridiculous. Her eyes widened as she finally caught on to what he was silently communicating. “Oh, I see.”
I stared them down. Brandon fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable, while Rose looked delighted. “Will you two please tell me what the hell this is all about?”
“It's quite simple really. That was Gabe Morrison, Prince Charming extraordinaire and current play thing of her royal bitchiness—”
“Total hag.” Brandon added.
“Jenni Miller.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, you noticed how he's completely built and drop dead gorgeous, right?” Brandon asked.
“Yeah, would be kind of hard to miss.”
“Well, he's off limits.” Rose stated, calmly picking at her nails and looking for all the world like this was a normal conversation.
“And I would be interested in whether or not he's off limits because?” I was beyond irritated. Why couldn't
