Letting my mind wander, I followed the familiar route. A safe and predictable part of my day,the opposite of what I’d recently encountered.Left at the cracked sidewalk and then straight past the café until I saw the bookstore. My hand lifted to my necklace without thinking and stopped when I felt bare skin. My fingers curled slightly before I forced my hand back down, but I kept walking like nothing happened.
Except something definitely did.
Silas.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one responsible for it missing, the asshole who’d claimed me with permanent black marker. The necklace had been a gift from Kolby, but he probably knew that already, which was why it was gone. My jaw tightened as I turned the corner, the bookstore coming into view at the end of the block. Usually that was enough to settle the unease in me, but that was exactly what scared me—it was like I couldn’t settle now that I’d experienced him.
I slowed as I approached the bookstore and stepped inside to start my shift. Placing my bag down, Edna’s voice found me from behind the counter. “There you are, I thought you were probably going to be late with howreliableyou tend to be.”
I looked over at her but didn’t force a smile. “Morning,Edna.”
She didn’t respond, just peered at me over her half-moon glasses before turning away with a frown. I watched her as the contents of my stomach threatened to come up. For a split second, I debated letting everything come out in her direction.
I managed to suppress the nausea long enough for her to walk out, the bell over the door signaling my freedom from her. Folding my arms, I bent and rested my forehead on the wood grain counter for just a second. My body taking that moment to inform me exactly how mad it was that we hadn’t grabbed something to eat. A loud cry came from my stomach.
“Well that sounds painful.”
Atlas's voice made me jump, which forced my stomach to do another somersault. I groaned slightly as I brought one hand to my belly and the other up to wave him away. Naturally, he didn't listen. Instead, I felt hm at my side as he rubbed my back.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I'm good. Just not feeling great today.”
“You look green.” Guiding me toward the chair behind the desk, he made me sit. “Do me a favor and do not throw up. I don't do well with bodily fluids.”
Normally, I would’ve rolled my eyes at him, but my head was pounding too hard to care. I sank onto the chair with a groan, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.
Atlas disappeared for a minute before returning with water. “You eat today?”
I shook my head, ready to apologize for being hungover.
“Ember, we've talked about this. You can’t just survive off caffeine and spite.”
I huffed a small laugh as he crouched down next to me, and cocked his head to see my hidden face. “Atlas, I—”
“Hey, it's okay, Let me take care of you for once.”
I barely reacted at first, but then he moved his body between my legs and sat on his knees, rubbing the outside of my thighs.
Atlas was touchy sometimes, it was just the kind of person he was. There were side hugs every time I would come into work or brief moments of him walking by where he would make physical contact. Looking back, it was always casual things that never seemed weird before.Not like this.
So when his hands moved to the inside of my legs and he started massaging them, I tried to fight the red flags that formed in my mind. “I'm okay, really. I just—”
“You’re really tense,” he said quietly as his hand moved in slow circles, “I hate seeing you like this.”
I swallowed hard as I battled another turn of my stomach. I needed to get out of this situation and then find something to eat. “I’ll survive.”
“I know.” His fingers moved to my calves, and he looked up at me. “Doesn’t mean I like it.”
Something in his tone confirmed the next wave of red flags that flooded my mind. He was looking at me and not as a friend or boss.
I shifted uncomfortably and pulled my legs away from him as I sat up straighter. The movement caused the fabric of mydress to fall off my leg, where Silas's name was now exposed.
A look of disappointment filled his features before he sighed and looked up at me. “Have you just pretended not to notice? Or did you really have no idea?”
I stared at him blankly for a second because surely I’d misunderstood him. When he reworded his question again, my nostrils flared.Fuck.Realization crashed into me all at once. The dinners, the banter, the way he always found reasons to hang out with me until closing—I pulled back from him instinctively.
“The truth is that I've been trying to get your attention for a long time now. I thought you would catch on the more we played.” He let out a short laugh and ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, even Edna knows. The desserts, the time together, theflowers.”
