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Simone blinked, and we stood staring at each other for longer than a few moments until the back door swung open and the hollow metal crashed into the brick wall behind it. Auston stormed into the parking lot with a beer in each hand and Ash close behind.
“Wow, I’m surprised!” he said, nudging Ash playfully.
I looked around the parking lot. Everything looked normal. “Surprised?”
Auston laughed. “Yeah, everyone is in one piece, and nothing is on fire!”
There was another roar of laughter from him and Ash, and I looked at Simone. She blushed. “Yeah, yeah. We are perfectly capable of being civil,” I scolded them.
“Since when?”
We spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, and dancing to whatever song Sky and Jackson put on the jukebox. As the afternoon dragged on, the drinks flowed less, and those scheduled to work for the night started to complain. The rest of us wound down until everyone was draped over stools or leaning against the counter.
I looked at the group, scanning each face and realizing how thankful I was to work with my closest friends. When I landed on Simone, another tinge of guilt caused my stomach to sink. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember the reason I felt so set on hating her. There was something about the gentle smile on her face that made me question if she was as tightly wound as I expected.
She yawned, standing up from the stool. “I think I should get going,” she said.
“It’s starting to get dark. Maybe one of us should walk you to your car,” I said, and a questioning look flitted across her face.
She pointed to the back door. “I’m parked right outside the door, and I can protect myself. Remember?” Simone pointed to the spot on the counter where she had slammed the drunk man’s face the other night.
“Still… the trash needs to go out anyway.” I didn’t wait for her to respond before Auston nudged me, and I rounded the bar, snagging the half-full bag of trash on the way.
Simone didn’t fight me when I stepped in line with her, walking with her to the door. Realistically, after seeing her handle herself the other night, I knew she’d be able to protect herself if someone were out here waiting for her, but for some reason I wasn’t willing to take the risk and find out for sure.
She silently stepped into the parking lot. It was dark enough that the sky was a dark gray more than a light blue, but it wasn’t quite black. There was still some pink from the sunset, but the moon had already risen. It was that odd period of time between sunlight but before the streetlights turned on, and it was dark behind the brick building.
She paused with her hand on the handle of her Honda Civic and sucked in a deep breath before pulling the door open. She tossed her purse on the front seat. “Thank you for walking me to my car, I guess.”
“Yeah…” My mouth was dry, and when she swallowed, I followed the bob in her throat.
Simone’s breathing picked up, like she was nervous. Her lips parted, the shimmer on them still shining in the lack of light. She opened her mouth to say something before changing her mind and closing it. She paused to look at the door to the bar, taking a steadying breath.
“I should—” She pointed into her car without making any effort to move.
Our gazes met. I should’ve walked away then. I should’ve told her to have a good night and accepted we didn’t have to hate each other. Instead, I weaved my hands into her hair and tugged her face to mine. I crashed my lips against hers.
She whimpered, parting her lips, and I slipped my tongue between them. Her mouth was sweet with a hint of the beer she’d drank. Simone snaked her arms around my back, flattening her body against mine.
The streetlights flashed on, the electric hum accompanying the sound of our breath mixing. The sudden spotlight brought attention to the woman wrapped around me. Simone. The woman I’d clashed with from the moment she walked in the door. She moaned.
I pulled away from her, breathless. “Fuck. I don’t even like you.”
She giggled, tracing her lips with her finger. “The feeling is mutual.”
Simone climbed in her car. When her engine roared to life, I met her eyes again. Then she whipped her head to look over her shoulder, reversing from her parking spot, and drove away. I shook my head.
Fuck. I don’t even think I like her.
Chapter 12
Simone
“Do you think a rutabaga floats?” Emmy asked, picking up the root vegetable and tossing it in the basket. Her face scrunched up as she thought about it for a second before she shrugged.
She picked up a pineapple, flipping it over in her hands and sniffing the bottom. Emmy looked at me and opened her mouth. I interrupted her. “I swear, Emmy, if you’re about to ask me if a pineapple floats or if I think they really make a man taste better, then I’m going to leave you at this store.”
When she’d asked me if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her, I expected it to be like shopping with my cousin. He was the type of guy that wrote out his grocery list based on the map of the store so he could weave up and down the aisles and get in and out of there as fast as possible. He would never stop and question the buoyancy of root vegetables. Chance was the best and worst to grocery shop with, and for all the opposite reasons, Emmy was the same.
