Page 68 of Let the Light Shine Through

“You draw the line at shoes, huh?”

A ghost of a smile touches her lips, and she shakes her head.

“Do you work today?”

She eyes me, stretching the word, “Yes,” out.

“What time does your shift end?”

Same thing when she says, “Later.”

“See you later then.”

With my thumb on her lips, I lean in until mine rest against my knuckle, Gia’s uneven breath audible between us as I look her in the eye.

All at once, I release her, spinning on my heel.

“Is that your idea of a goodbye kiss?”

“That wasn’t a kiss at all.” Not technically. We just kind of breathed each other in. “Trust me, next time I kiss you, you won’t need clarification.”

“I definitely won’t…considering you’re all out of kisses.”

When I turn around to face her again, I make sure I use the same amount of arrogance, telling her, “I’ll earn more.”

One battle was fun and all, but the second will be even better.

I hope.

Roz

Just about every day for almost two weeks now, I’ve eaten at Al’s. Most days, Gia ducks out before I even catch a glimpse of her, but some days, I actually lay eyes on her. Those are the days I live for. Unfortunately, her reaction when I do see her is always the same—indifference—and I could really go without that feeling. If I engage in conversation with her, she answers with one- or two-word responses and they’re forced. Detached even.

I fucking hate it.

Not enough to stop coming here, obviously, but I just wish Gia would tell me why she is the way she is. Who hurt her? Physically, emotionally…sexually? I want to know.

After the night we spent together, there’s no denying the chemistry between us, yet every time I run into her at Al’s, she tries her damndest to do just that.

Still…I show up. I have nothing better to do. I have nothing to do, period. I thought I’d try out that bakery, but no. I’m not going there, not when I could go to Al’s instead.

And I thought if I showed up earlier tonight than I usually do, I’d have a better chance at seeing Gia and…I don’t know. I never really have anything planned, but that’s the beauty of being around Gia, I don’t need to. She leads, I follow. Or I lead and she changes course, and I end up following anyway. The second I pull in though, I start questioning if I’ll get to see Gia at all. It’s fucking packed. There’s even a line out the door and down the side of the building.

Al’s is busy every night of the week, but I’ve never seen it like this, and I have to park across the street. I honestly don’t even know how Al handles most of the business alone normally. Of course Gia helps too, but from what I’ve seen there’s only one other employee, a woman named Patty, who runs the register and answers the phone that’s always ringing off the hook.

I make my way past the line, ignoring several accusatory glares, until I find Patty, red-faced and sweaty with a handful of menus clutched to her chest.

“What’s going on?”

“Little league baseball season just ended.”

“Oh…” I say, glancing around at all the tables jammed full of rambunctious preteens waiting for their food. “And Gia left already?”

“No, she’s back there, too.”

She is?

“Al’s gotta hire someone to help you guys out. This is crazy.”