Page 5 of Just a Little Prick

Chapter Two

Lora

If I never heard from Chris again, it would be too soon.

At least there was plenty to be done around Bakeology. There were always cupcakes to make, and cookies to ice, and coffee to be brewed. And cleaning. Thank God for the amount of cleaning that had to be done.

I had my back to the counter, letting Kenzie handle customers while I stirred and kneaded and beat butter and sugar into thick, sweet icing. Music blared on my headphones, Kathleen Hanna shouting in my ears. Loud, angry music helped on days like this.

“Rebel Girl” was interrupted by the chiming of my text message tone. I groaned, shaking my head. Not until the buttercream was in the piping bag, I told myself. I was not going to let the bastard get to me again. I dug my spatula into the bowl, scooping out the thick, caramel-colored icing and slapping it down into the piping bag. The gesture was cathartic, in a way. It got some of the anger out.

My phone chimed again.

Fucking Chris.

I slammed the last of the icing into the bag and dug my phone from my apron pocket.

Lora, I’m sorry.

Please just talk to me?

I snatched the empty bowl from the counter and whipped around, tossing it into the sink. The sound echoed in the bakery. All other noise stopped.

People were looking at me.

I huffed and shook my head. Going to the counter, I grabbed the bottle of rum I’d just used. The cupcakes would be good, at least.

“I’m putting this away!” I said, probably louder than necessary, but I wasn’t about to pause my music. I thought I heard Kenzie’s voice through my headphones, but I didn’t know what she said, and didn’t care right now.

What the hell could Chris possibly have to text me about? I didn’t want anything else to do with him. He’d been the one to break up with me. He’d been the one to—

No. I didn’t need to get myself back into the thinking cycle. I sighed and let myself into the cooler, where I knew I’d be undisturbed. I’d moved here to chase my dreams, and he… He’d made it terrible.

It had already been terrible.

I sat down on a crate marked ‘flour’ and looked down at my phone. Chris’s texts were still up on the screen. Snorting, I lifted the bottle of rum to my lips and took a long drink.

Fuck off, Chris, I texted back.

For a full minute, the three bouncing dots on my screen indicated he was responding. They stopped moving. I took another long drink of rum.

Christ, Lora, I’m trying to make this easier.

How could he make it easier? We’d agreed that we could handle long distance. We’d talked about it before I accepted the job at Bakeology and committed to moving. And he’d had to go and… ruin everything on me. He’d been ruining everything before we even broke up. Before I moved.

I started to text back, letting all of my anger out on the screen. The rum sat on the crate beside me, in easy reach.

If you think anything you can do is going to make this easier, you’re stupid. You’re such an asshole! You really thought you could fuck somebody else and it would be okay? And that it could be—

The door to the cooler opened. Kenzie’s pretty face peered around the corner.

“Lora?” she asked. Her gentle tone stung. “Hey. You okay? You’ve been… a little off today.”

I took another long drink of the rum. “I’m—I’m fine.” But as I said it, my voice broke. “I’m fine! I’ll be fine, okay?”

I couldn’t fight back a sob. I put the bottle down and pressed both hands to my mouth. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, splashing on the front of my apron.

Kenzie crouched down at my side. “Lora? What happened?”

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