realized now that we couldn’t go forward either. Not even just as friends. “What can I do for you?”
“Not here to shop. Here to check on you.” He scanned the interior as he approached. “Nice place. Cool displays.”
“Thanks.” I kept the racks of clothes in order and arranged the colorful end-cap displays.
“Quiet.”
“Yeah, it’s been a slow day.” I’d only had three customers my entire shift.
“Are you okay?” He stopped on the other side of the checkout counter from me.
“I’m hanging in there.” Averting my gaze, I closed my magazine.
“That doesn’t sound like a yes.”
“It is what it is.” I shrugged and looked back up.
“I wish you would have let me walk you home last night.” The concern in his eyes captivated me.
“I couldn’t let you do that,” I said. That would have been the match to War’s ready-to-ignite fuse. “We both know why.”
“What do you mean?” Bryan’s gaze narrowed.
“We can’t be friends.” I spelled it out, though to me, the explanation seemed unnecessary after last night. “We can’t hang out, and I can’t visit you at your place anymore.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Your friendship with War. Your position in the group. Your future. Being friends with me could jeopardize all that for you.”
“Because War’s not over you,” he said flatly. “Is that it?”
“Oh, he’s over me, all right.” My brow creased. “Did you not hear what he said to me last night?”
“With War, sometimes the level of his emotional response speaks louder truth than his words do.”
“Well, the loud truth I heard was that I blew it.” I pointed to myself. “He feels betrayed by me. And you know how he is as well as I do. When someone’s out with him, they’re out. I’m the enemy now. I don’t want you to get judged guilty by association with me. It’s better to say good-bye right now. Go our separate ways.”
There would never be an our anything for Bryan and me except the wall we shared with us on opposite sides. Only now I understood better the reasons it had to always be there.
His jaw flexing, he said, “I don’t agree.”
“Bryan, please. Don’t be stubborn. This is already difficult enough. Having you back without worrying about War, even for just a little while, was wonderful. But we both know it was only temporary.”
“Lace, listen.” He raked a hand through his hair, pulling the silky strands away from his creased brow, but they just slid right back where they’d been before. Like my feelings for him would if we didn’t have that wall of separation. “I did a lot of thinking last night. I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“Did this thinking occur before or after War laid into you for me being at your place.”
He winced. “After.”
“I’m sure that was an incredibly tense situation for you. For your mom. For everyone. So, you know I’m right.”
“Can you hold off making all these unilateral decisions until after you hear what I have to say?”
“Okay.” I spread my arms wide. “Speak. I’m all ears.”
“Not here. Just you and me. Privately. No potential interruptions.”
He swept his gaze over me. His eyes darkened as if he appreciated my flippy hair style, and the pink plaid sixties dress that skimmed my curves and revealed a long length of my legs. Janet allowed me to wear whatever I liked from the inventory while working. Customers liked my outfits so much that they often purchased them on the spot, or if it wasn’t their size, asked me to put together a similar one for them.
“Can I walk you home after you get off?”
“Sure,” I said. Just because I knew the way it had to be with us, didn’t mean I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Plus, him walking me home would save Dizzy the trip. “It’s closing time now. Diz was going to pick me up. He usually walks me home when it’s dark, but if you call him and let him know there’s been a change in plans, I’ll shut everything down, and we can leave sooner.”
Nodding, Bryan slid his cell out of his pocket. “All right.”
As I counted the cash, I sneaked peeks at him. He was so sexy with his hair in his eyes. I imagined him giving me a flirty look through those thick lashes of his, and let out a longing sigh without thinking.
“You okay?” he asked, looking up from his phone.
“Yeah, just daydreaming.”
“About what?”
“Impossible things. Typical dream stuff.” I jotted down the cash total and locked the