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I give her a shy smile, desperate to see her smile back. But she rolls her eyes and turns away. So, I turn my attention back to the boys and get lost in what they’re talking about. Moments later my nostrils deceive me with the scent of coconut and sunshine.
“We need to talk.” We all look over to see Holli– her tone holds so much authority that my bones feel as though they’ll melt–standing at the end of the table.
I look up at her, a black apron is tied around her waist to indicate that she might actually work here. All of the boys are looking at me dead-faced but I’m oblivious to their reactions as I try to unpack what she just said.
Mason attempts a sad excuse of coughing sounds to gain anyone’s attention and I break from my confusion.
“Me?” I ask, pointing a finger at my chest.
No one else here seems to question who she needs to talk to as her hands are firmly on hips and she’s eyeballing me directly. The sounds of the T.V’s seem to drown out as I open my mouth to talk, but she turns around and walks toward a back hallway before I can even answer.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Mason says.
“You gonna go follow her or not?” Cody gives me a look that saysyou’re in troubleand I annoyingly push up from my chair and head to where she disappeared to.
I see a door swing gently as if someone just passed through it. I follow it out to the back of the restaurant, the crisp evening air hits my nose.
“Are you following me?” Hollis surprises me as she pushes herself off the brick wall.
“Well, you did say we needed to talk and then left, so yeah. I followed you.” I lean down to put a rock between the door and frame, not entirely sure that it won’t lock on us if we close it. I look around to make sure no one else is around as her tone is raised and I don’t know where the hell this conversation is about to go.
“Don’t be stupid.” I’m shocked at the words that come out of her mouth. “I meant here. To my job.” She motions to the building and I nearly laugh at her accusation.
“I didn’t follow you here, I was invited by the boys. Didn't even know you worked here,” I tell her.
Something tense and distant wedges itself between us, as if there wasn’t enough of those things as it.
“You need to give me some space, Jaxon.” She crosses her arms at her chest.
She’s pissed at me, that much I can tell. But I can’t seem to shake how fucking sexy it makes her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hollis get so mad before.
"Space? Hollis, did I do something wrong? Ever since I’ve gotten back in town you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder and I think I missed the memo. Besides, think over a decade is space enough.” I rub the back of my neck before shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans.
Hollis is scowling at me; her nose crinkled and her dark brown eyes honed in heatedly, like I shaved her dog bald or something. Does she even have a dog? I really don't know much about this girl anymore. I hope I can change that, but her stubbornness is going to be the death of me. Especially if we can’t get over whatever it is that went wrong.
“Oh, that’s so funny isn’t it, Jaxon? Think you can just come back and jump right back into the mix without dealing with what you’ve left behind?” Her nose crinkles a little as her eyes light up with fire.
I try to unpack her words but I’m at a loss. Does she meanher? Does she think I purposefully left her behind? That’s the only thing I can think of, nothing else would make much sense. But we both know that’s not true.
I attempt to take a few steps closer expecting her to back away, but she doesn’t.
“Are you mad at me? And if you are, I’m going to need you to stop being so cryptic, Holli, because-”
“Do. Not.” She puts up her palm as she enunciates both words individually. “You don't get to call me Holli. It’s Hollis," she states sharply, now taking a few steps backward.
“I don’t know what the fuck I did to you for you to treat me like this, but it’s fucking childish.” My tone is vexed, proving to myself that this girl makes me an irascible man.
I mean, I care about her and all but she’s not going to talk to me like this.
“Childish?Good one. Because that’s all you’ll ever see me as isn't it, Jax? Achild." Her voice turns edgy and snarky and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel something.
“I’m at a fucking loss here, Hollis." I push my fingers through my hair, feeling provoked and irritated. Why is she beating around the bush the way she is? "Please tell me what the fuck I did? I know things couldn't have possibly been the same between us but I didn’t expect all this.” I wave my hands in front of us and she just glares at me with a seething expression.
“Well then, maybe it’s time you just forget about me. I’ve already forgotten about you.” She makes an attempt to walk past me, but I step in the direction that blocks her from moving forward.
“No. Don't fucking do that to me." I try to hold eye contact with her, but just like the other day, she won't look me in the eye, it's bothersome as hell. Why does she have to be so fucking stubborn? "Listen, if you wanna be mad at me, cool. By all means. But don’t you think that I deserve a real fucking reason? I mean if anything, I should be the one who’s mad.”
“You really think so?” She raises her brow at me and damn if I wasn't mad at her, because it's the cutest fucking thing I’ve seen her do since coming back.
