608 Alpha Ave - Adriana Locke Page 0,29

at Grayson.

He sits quietly, stiff as a board, for a long couple of seconds. Then he reaches into his back pocket, pulls out his wallet, and lays a couple of bills on the bar.

His gaze lingers on me as he stands. His jaw is locked as if he has no intention of answering my question.

My breath stalls in my chest. My spirits sink as I resolve to accept reality. He doesn’t want me.

The bridge of my nose burns as I sniffle back the surge of sadness and anger erupting from my heart. Because even though it’s Occam’s razor’s answer—it’s the simplest solution—I don’t quite believe it. I don’t believe, truly, that’s what he was doing. A hefty part of my anger is directed at myself for that very reason.

I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt. But I can’t help it.

Tears blur my vision, and I want to shout at him. I want to ask him what all that shit was about when he said I was a prize.

“Which guy are you?” I tease. “You’re the one who doesn’t want the prize, aren’t you? You aren’t ready for a woman like me”

I wasn’t wrong. He had his taste. He sampled the speed bump and wants nothing more to do with me. And I don’t think it’s only that he’s not ready for a woman like me anymore.

He doesn’t even want a woman like me.

I close my eyes for the briefest second and let that bolt of reality impale my heart.

“See ya tomorrow,” he says before turning on his heel and walking out.

Corbin’s hand falls to my shoulder, jolting me.

“Hey, pal. You good?” he asks.

“Yup,” I say through the burn in my throat.

“Why don’t you let me close for the night? Go ahead and take off.”

If I walk out of here, I’m going to chase down Grayson. As much as I want to do that, I don’t want to do that.

“I’m good,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ll stay.”

Corbin pats my shoulder and then walks away. When I turn around, the blond guy is looking at me, oblivious to what just transpired.

“So?” he asks with a big smile. “Wanna go out tomorrow?”

I glance at the door again just in time to see Grayson’s truck pull out of the parking lot.

“You know what?” I say. “I’d love that.”

And fuck Grayson Blake.

Eleven

Haley

“I really hope that look indicates that you had a wild night with Grayson and not … something else,” Kaylee says, making a face as I walk in the back door of Cherry Pie Pizza.

“Good morning to you too.”

She grips a large plastic spoon and moves it around and around an oversized soup pot. It looks like it takes more energy to stir whatever she’s making than I have today.

I sit on a stool beside the sink.

“Oh, no.” She frowns. “What happened?”

My spirits fall. Again. It’s a pattern that I’ve noticed over the last twelve hours or so. I think about Grayson walking out of Fireside, and—boom!—my feelings are hurt all over again.

“I knew better, Kay. I knew better than to get my hopes up.”

She stops stirring.

“He didn’t call or text or … anything after, you know, the hike.” I shrug. “But that’s normal. I mean, I guess it is. It’s fine—or it would’ve been. I wrote it off and thought maybe he needed to get his brain wrapped around it too. You know?”

“Makes sense.”

“Well, that was me being optimistic.” I pick a loose pepperoni out of the pizza bar and pop it into my mouth. “Maybe that’ll give me salmonella, and I’ll have that to worry about instead.”

She sighs. “So, what happened? I get it wasn’t good but spill it.”

“He came in last night. Late. And acted all cold and quiet. But that’s Grayson sometimes. He can be that way. So I sort of held my breath and waited for him to warm up.”

“Smart.”

“There were two guys in town from Syn City, I think. I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, they were sitting at the bar, and one of them flat-out asked me on a date right in front of Grayson.”

Kaylee’s eyes go wide.

I pick up another pepperoni. “And I looked at Grayson and said something like, ‘What do you think?’ or something random. Basically, just—”

“Giving him the opportunity to step in,” she says. “Got it.”

“Yeah. Except he didn’t.” My throat burns all over again. “He stood, took out his wallet, paid his bill, and walked out.”

I didn’t know Kaylee’s eyes could grow this wide.

“So, anyway, I’m on my