Our Star-Crossed Kiss (The Rooftop Crew #4) - Piper Rayne Page 0,2
“It’s like a Cinderella story with you two. One day he’s going to come in here and sweep you off your feet, take you to his castle on the hill, and you’ll live happily ever after.” She rests her chin in her palm as if she’s envisioning it all happening right now.
I won’t break my sister’s naively romantic heart, but Brock isn’t the type of guy to put much thought into anything other than his vices—video games, hanging out with his friends, and betting on car races with said friends.
All Elsie sees when it comes to Brock is dollar bills. His fancy sports car and his family’s big house on the hill. Sometimes I sit next to him and wonder how we ever started dating. The truth is, it all started here in The Bagel Place.
Brock would come in around noon and ask if we had anything fresh. Eventually he lingered longer and longer, and since business was always slow by then, it was nice to have someone to talk to. Sometimes a friend of his would stop in and he’d make them buy a bagel or a drink. Usually they’d chat for a minute or two then be on their way, but Brock would stay until I closed. One afternoon he asked me out and I said yes even though he’s not really my type. If I told that to Elsie, she’d faint like one of the members from BTS just walked in the door.
But Brock surprised me. He’s pretty charming and he’s been almost sweet on our dates. Except for after a gala we attended, where we ran into Seth Andrews. It was an event for the Testicular Cancer Awareness Group. Brock’s dad is a bigwig for some company that bought a table.
All those doubts Seth Andrews keeps trying to bring to my doorstep come to mind—that Brock is a drug dealer and the scum of the earth.
“Hey, have you ever heard any rumors about Brock?” I ask in a light voice, trying to make it sound like no big deal. I shove another tray of everything bagels in the oven because we usually run out of them early and Elsie will be lost if she has to actually prepare anything.
“What kind of rumors?”
I shrug with my back to her. I’ve dissected Seth’s accusations about Brock being his brother Trevor’s drug dealer repeatedly. Why would a guy like Brock need to sell drugs? His family is loaded. It makes no sense.
What makes more sense is that Seth has the last name Andrews and anyone with that last name can’t be trusted when it comes to us Ericksons.
“You mean other girls? Damn, Evan, you know you’re hot, right? He’s lucky to get you.”
I turn around, wiping my hands clean with a dishcloth. “Yeah, not about other girls.”
Although Brock does have a reputation of having no-strings-attached relationships. Even Elsie’s sweet compliments can’t erase his past.
She tilts her head. “Then what?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really go out much—”
“Evan, you’re dodging the question. What’s bothering you?”
I sit on the stool across from her and allow all the nervous energy about what I’m doing as soon as I leave here to disperse from my body. “You know that gala I went to a few weeks ago?”
“The fancy one Brock bought you a gorgeous black dress for? That thing may disappear out of your closet one day, by the way.” She laughs and I throw the dishrag at her.
“Yeah, well, Seth Andrews was there too.”
Elsie’s laugh dies as though someone cut her throat.
“Els,” I say.
She shakes her head. “You’re thinking of ruining your chance at a fairy tale romance because of something Seth Andrews said?”
I never expected to see Seth there—in a tuxedo, no less. It was probably his first time wearing one since junior prom when he got crowned as king. Brock was seething after our confrontation with Seth and actually demanded I have nothing to do with him. I’m not sure why Brock’s worried. It’s common knowledge to anyone who lives in Cliffton Heights that Seth’s dad and mine had a falling out years ago. As if that’s not cliché enough, I see actual voting polls on our community Facebook group about who has the better bagels: my family, the Ericksons of The Bagel Place or Seth’s family with Andrews Bagel Company.
I’m not sure what Brock saw the night of the gala to make him demand I never see Seth again.