Page 15 of Sofa King Cute

“Don’t waste your time,” Troy tells her, and the waitress scowls at him before she walks away. “Why are bitches sweating over you and not me?”

“Probably because you call them bitches,” I say, and he huffs.

When I see Liv still hasn’t responded and the bubbles are gone, my heart sinks. I haven’t had a chance to check her TikTok yet, so I go over to look at it. She’s the only account I follow, so it’s easy to find her most recent one.

My brows pull together when I see it was posted last night. She’s baking a chocolate cake, and the caption says, Late-night special delivery! Something sweet for someone sweet.

Late-night special delivery? Something sweet for someone sweet? The words roll around in my head, and I’m wondering why she was making a cake so late. And why was she going out when she told me she was home safe?

“Maybe I’ll get a slice of pie,” Troy says while he scrolls his phone. “I ate so much chocolate cake last night, I need a taste of something else.”

The waitress comes back, but I’m so hung up on what Troy is saying that when she leans over to put my food in front of me, I’m nearly blinded by her cleavage.

A loud crash has all of us turning to the front of the diner. That’s when I see Liv standing at the entrance of the diner a second before she takes off running across the street.

“Shit,” I whisper because she must have seen what happened.

“Guess the golden boy isn’t so golden.” Troy smirks before he takes a giant bite of his burger.

Chapter Eleven

LIV

I will not cry. I will not cry. I repeat the mantra as I make my way back to the shop. It’s too bad I’m still starving, because there’s no way I’m going back to the diner. I doubt I’ll step foot inside that place again. If the memory of seeing Julius's face deep in Lola’s breasts wasn’t enough, when I stumbled back from shock, I managed to knock over a display rack in the process. When it crashed to the floor, everyone turned and witnessed my humiliation.

Why would someone put a display right when you walk in the door? Sure, it’s convenient and has been there for years, but that’s not the point right now!

“Whoa,” my sister says when I come bursting back into the shop. “Are you—” She trails off when she sees my face. “Who made you cry?”

“I’m not crying.” I touch my cheeks to verify.

“You’re about to burst.”

She’s right, I am. There is a weird pressure in my chest that wants to explode, but I’m scared that if I let it out, I’ll never stop. Why did I ever let myself fall for Julius? I should have known his handsome face and growly nature were going to be nothing but heartbreak.

“I ran into the display and made a mess,” I sniffle.

“That’s not it.” Lane shakes her head. She’s not buying my excuse. “I’ve seen you fall on your face and laugh right along with everyone else.”

This is true. I’m not one to embarrass easily, but this time was different. “Julius isn’t who I thought he was.”

Lane's face softens. She knows how deep my crush on him goes and has busted me doodling his name more than a few times when I’m bored.

“Don’t move,” she orders.

I watch as she goes over and turns the sign on the door to closed before locking it. Lane even pulls the curtains shut so no one can see into the shop.

“What are you doing?”

“We are long overdue for sister time.” Lane gives me a warm smile.

“Really?” I perk up. Since we took over this place together and her orders exploded, Lane lives and breathes work.

“Yes, really. I think I’ve missed a couple of things, and I need to be filled in.” It’s not normal that she doesn’t already know every detail of what happened last night.

“Will you make spring rolls?” I might as well milk it.

We both freeze when we hear the door handle wiggle like someone is trying to enter the shop. I grab Lane by the wrist, and we duck behind the counter.

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