AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is this…” He cleared his throat. “I mean, the thing with us, you didn’t think that we were going to—”
“No, I’m not surprised that you hit it and quit it, Niles. I doknowyou, and I’ve had lots of conversations with lots of women who you’ve plundered ahead of me.”
He cleared his throat, squaring his shoulders. “Okay, look, I don’t plunder people.”
Hiljd rolled her eyes.
“It should never have happened with us, though,” he said.
“No, it’s fine. It was good, actually. I needed it,” she said. “Just? Niles? What are you doing? She’s a kid.”
“She’s not a kid.”
“You never have a girlfriend. Never. And now, what? You’re serious about thischild.”
“She’stwenty-five.”
“Oh,” said Hiljd, furrowing her brow. “Lucy made it sound—”
“Look, I know I fucked things up with Lucy,” he said. “I was a dumbass. I wasn’t careful. I’m careful now. I do not make promises to women anymore. I let people know the score before we get into things—”
“That’s what’s going on with the elf? It’s casual?”
“No, it’s not. She’s, uh…” He couldn’t look at Hiljd. “I don’t know. I never met anyone like her before.”
“Right,” said Hiljd. “Because she’s very young and very elfin.”
“You going to buy a sandwich, or are you just here to bust my balls?”
Hiljd shrugged. “How are the maple sausage and apple on raisin bread?”
“Amazing,” he said.
“Okay, one of those then.”
She left, but he felt twitchy about that conversation.
And three other people came in, and all of them had heard about him and Dahlia, and all of them had opinions about it, and none of the opinions were favorable. He was told twice not to “hurt her.” And the other person kept saying, “I just can’t evenseeyou two together.”
By the time Dahlia got to the shop that afternoon, he was bracing himself every time someone walked in the door.
She tied her apron on and walked over to him, right up to him, and bumped her forehead directly into his shoulder. “Niles,” she whimpered.
“Hey,” he said, putting an arm around her, crushing her into him. It was good to see her.
“I wish we hadn’t told anyone.”
He laughed. “No, I see your point, actually, about that. Everyone in town has a fucking opinion.”
She moaned into his scarf. “I’ve been warned off of you ten times today. One of them was a janitor on campus. His name is Matt, and he’s a troll, and he said that he tried to kill you after the way you treated his sister.”
Niles groaned. “Matt, yeah. His sister is, um, Neesa.”
She lifted her face. “I don’t understand it.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“You seem like a really good guy to me, and you’re sweet to me, and you don’t seem—”
