Page 104 of Bring You Back

I roll my eyes at the warning. “I think you’ve had enough words.”

“Here’s one more from today,” he says, unfazed. “Touch another customer, and Iwillfire you.”

“Who said I touched them?”

Mitch stares at me like I already know, and I do. “You put your hand over a customer’s mouth to stop them from talking.”

I smirk at his reminder. “And it worked.”

Mitch rolls his eyes so hard I fear they’ll get stuck. He retreats to the back, grumbling about Reyna, but I think he keeps me around because he’s secretly amused by me.

I face Shelly Belly who still has yet to move. I clap my hands at her face, repeat Mitch’s order. “Let’s hurry it up.”

She scowls at me, then stalks off to put away her supplies.Thanks, Mitch.He was good for one thing today.

“This sucks ass,” Julian complains from the couch when I finally return to the house, his eyes on whatever video game he’s playing.

“I’ll give you an ass to suck,” Banks says, shaking his ass in Julian’s face as he returns to his side. Julian shoves him away and Banks catches himself before he topples over the coffee table. How disappointing.

“Dude. The drinks!” Banks sets the cups that almost slipped from his hands on top of the table, then plops beside Julian, retrieving a controller.

I scoff at this picture—the two of them hauled up on the couch, playing video games like they used to. Looks like Julian agreed to throw his dog a bone.

“Get fired yet?”

I eye Reyna who I hadn’t seen when I walked in, and who is giving me a teasing smile from the island, a pencil propped in her hand that’s propped over her sketchbook. I meet her. “If anyone should be fired, it should be Shelby. My methods actuallyaccomplishsomething.”

She rolls her eyes at me, then stares down at her sketch, a piece she’s most likely going to put to canvas later.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, recognizing her somber through her cheer.

“My mom didn’t wanna hang out with me,” she says with a tap of her pencil against the pad. “She’d rather whine to Mr. Wine,” she adds with an off-stare.

“So, you camehereto be ignored?” I say before turning a pointed stare to the twogamer boysgiving all their attention to a television screen.

“She’s not ignored,” Julian proclaims as he clicks on his controller.

“Yeah, we had plans,” Banks adds, his own fingers clicking on the other controller.

“It’s okay,” Reyna says with a small laugh. “At least they want me here.”

Our attention is pulled back to the couch as Julian says to Banks, “Okay, if this one’s it, you can’t bring girls over here for a week.”

“Dude,” Banks laments at him, then sits straighter with his eyes back on the screen. “It’s not gonna be it.”

“You sound sure about that.”

“I’msosure about that.”

“What the hell are they even doing?” I ask Reyna.

“Trying to catch something,” she says with a laugh. How helpful.

In the next moment, Julian spits out a “Dammit,” and Banks cheers, says, “Told you! Now, if this one’s it, you have to make out with your mom.”

Julian and Reyna release groans of disgust, and I roll my eyes with a chuckle.That’s the worst he can do?

Julian shuts it down with an adamant, “Fuck that.”

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