Page 14 of Better Not Pout
Chuckling, I extend my hand over the counter toward him. “Oh, sorry. I’m Wells, Rosalie’s boyfriend.”
She stiffens slightly beside me as I say it, and then I feel a sharp pinch beneath the counter on the outside of my thigh,causing my grin to widen. I bump my foot against hers, hopefully telling her to play the fuck along with it.
“Oh… I didn’t know you were seeing anyone, Rosalie,” Douchebag mutters, but still slides his clammy, way-too-soft palm into mine. I somehow resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m Bradley Ashford. An old fr?—”
“Ex-boyfriend. Of a silly past relationship, of course. That’s why I never mentioned it, you know, because it wasn’t anythingserious,” Rosalie says, cutting him off, her brow arched. Her voice is suddenly strong and unwavering, and fuck if I’m not proud. It’s like she’s snapped out of whatever trance of shock she was just in. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before now. Um… I didn’t think it was important. Bradley lives in New York now. I think?”
I drag my gaze from her back to her ex, whose gaze turns icy. “Los Angeles.”
Apparently, this is exactly what Rosalie needed to regain her footing. She smirks, rolling her lips together. “Oh, sorry.”
“That’s sweet of you to cater their engagement party, baby,” I say, looking over at Rosalie. I lift my fingers to her chin and tip it up. “That’s my girl. Always being charitable to those in need.”
My other hand is at her waist, pulling her tightly against me.
Douchebag’s fiancée squeaks, and we both promptly ignore it, tuning the both of them out. Or, at least, I do.
Mostly because this gorgeous girl is in my arms, her pretty eyes holding mine, and I like the way that feels a little too much. Her soft, warm body plastered against me, the sweet, sugary smell of her filling my nostrils, her chest rising and falling as if she’s just as affected by the proximity as I am.
Surprising the hell out of us both, I’m sure. I can’t be the only one.
“So you will cater the engagement party?” he asks, interrupting the moment. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or abad thing at this point, but I’m going with the latter since the last thing I need is to get tangled up in her.
Rosalie glances at him, then back up at me, chewing the corner of her lip as if she’s truly contemplating it, until finally she pastes on a smile and looks over at him. “Of course. I’d be happy to. You’re right, the past is the past, and I’m glad that it was soinsignificantfor the both of us.”
I bite back a grin when his eyes narrow slightly, but he pastes on a smile. “Good. Good. That’s perfect. Jessica will email you all the details. You know, you should both come to the party. It’ll be great for everyone to see us make amends, Rosalie. It’s something to celebrate.”
With a wink, he grabs his fiancée by the arm and tugs her behind him, literally hauling her out of the store like she’s a child, leaving me and my infuriatingly sexy neighbor, who I can’t decide whether I want to kiss or choke, alone in a heavy, strained silence.
The second the door shuts behind them, that fucking bell jingling loudly above it, she turns to me.
“What the actualfuckwas that, Wells!”
six
. . .
Rosalie
CheWellsnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire
I’m seeing red,and it has absolutely nothing to do with the cinnamon red-hot snowflakes in the display case in front of me.
“Are you freakin’ insane?” I screech, taking a giant, much-needed step away from Wells with his stupid, charming smile and strong, calloused fingers that felt entirely too good swiping along the small sliver of skin that peeked out from beneath the hem of my sweater. “Actually, don’t even answer that because I already know that you are, in fact, insane. What the hell were you thinking?”
His lips tug upward, and he shrugs unabashedly, as if he didn’t just implode my life even more in the five minutes he was standing here. “That you desperately needed saving from your asshole ex, who came into your store flaunting around his fiancée and her big-ass ring? You know, if anything, you should be thanking me.”
My mouth falls open before I sputter, “Thanking you? Do you have any idea how much of a mess you just created? You literally just told my ex that we’redating, and now the entire damn town is going to find out about it before you even walk back out of that door. Hello, Mistletoe Falls? Population four thousand? God, not to mention, now I’m somehow catering his freaking engagement party?” A groan spills out of me. “Could this get any worse?”
I probably shouldn’t have even said that, seeing as how every time someone says, “Can this get any worse?” it always inevitably gets worse.
I guess there is one thing that Wellsisright about. Bradley is definitely an asshole. I didn’t forget that much about him. I was just in shock, and my brain was having a hard time computing the fact that he and his fiancée were standing in my candy store, asking me to cater their engagement party, like he didn’t break my heart and make me feel absolutely worthless about myself for the entire time we were together.
I was never planning on seeing him ever again since he’d moved to New York or Los Angeles or wherever the hell he actually lives, and I avoid his family at any and all costs.
The audacity is truly astonishing, and it’s part of the reason that my brain stopped working.
Suddenly, the smell of fresh pine andmansurrounds me, and I glance up to see Wells standing directly in front of me again, so close that all I can feel and breathe ishim.
