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“I cried during that too,” she says, smirking at both of us. “It hurt.”
Elijah rubs the back of his neck. “I feel like we need some boundaries in here.”
“Face it, we have none,” I say, returning to wiping down the counter. “At least Charlie isn’t in today, to hear her carrying on. He’d probably run out in front of a car. I’ve had to listen to her describe her sexcapades in detail. Details, Elijah. I don’t want to know how many times my best friend can come in one night.”
She holds up four fingers.
Elijah winces and scrubs a hand down his face. “Yeah, okay. I’m going to go out the back now.”
He turns and leaves.
I put the cloth down and cross my arms over my chest. “Did Spencer say anything about Sylar?”
“Nope, but he seemed happy to see the two of you together,” she says, resting her hip against the counter. “I get the feeling he’s a bit of a loner.”
“Did you admit to Spencer that there was no missing cat?” I ask, since I forgot to before.
“No,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t want him to think I’m crazy. He can never know the truth. As far as he’s concerned, I lost my ginger cat named Kitty, and although a sad and traumatic event, it brought the two of us back together.”
“Did he say why he didn’t call in the first place?”
“He said he lost my number,” she says, shrugging. “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but when he opened the door, he looked happy and surprised to see me. Let’s just enjoy what time we have with them, Bree, because I think we both know these men aren’t the type to stick around long-term. Spencer is here for a good time, not a long time, and Sylar…. I don’t know what he is, but he will go where his brother does.”
Her words are probably true, and I don’t like the idea of Sylar leaving town, but it is what it is.
“By the way, you realize that you just had your first day date, right?” she says, arching her brow. “Not a drop of alcohol involved.”
“I guess you’re right,” I murmur, wondering what makes Sylar so different. He’s my exception, it seems, and it’s quite a scary thought that he already has a hold over me. I don’t like it, but I crave it at the same time. I haven’tfeltin so long. Anything. I haven’t felt anything. I think that’s why I crave him so much, because around him, I feel. Why does that feel like I’m using him or something? I don’t even know. It’s like I’ve been living in black and white, but he’s brought back colour. I don’t want anyone to have power over me again, but I don’t want to go back to how I was living before I laid eyes on him, either. If I’m feeling like this after spending just one day with him, how deep am I going to get as we go on? Opening yourself up is such a gamble, and I don’t know how anyone does it these days.
Maybe they just need to find their exception.
Christina closes the space between us and cups my cheeks with her palms. “My baby is all grown up.”
“Because I went on a date that I wasn’t drunk on?”
“Yep.”
I smile, my cheeks going all squishy with her hands still on my face. “That’s pretty sad.”
“You were a sad woman,” she says, letting go of my face with a cheeky grin.
Customers start to file in, and we all go into work mode.
Yet, in the back of the mind, pale blue eyes never seem to fade.
*****
“Hey,” I say, smiling when Spencer walks into the café just as I’m about to close up. He’s my last customer for the day. Sylar came in earlier, but the place was packed so I didn’t get to chat. Still, in the few moments he was in here, I couldn’t stop smiling. I saw him smile once, too. He was wearing all black as usual, but jeans and a V-neck T-shirt this time. He looked good.
“You’re just in time. Five more minutes and I would have been closed,” I say, standing at the counter. “Do you want the usual?”
“Yes, please,” he says, studying me. Spencer is a less intense version of his brother, but I can tell that underneath, he isn’t all charm and gentle nature.
“One or two?” I ask, wondering if Sylar wants another.
“Two, just to be safe,” he says, drumming his fingers on the counter. “So, Brielle,” he starts, and I know he wants to talk about something.
“Yeah?” I ask, giving him my full attention.
