Page 5 of Trapped In Love

ChapterTwo

FELIX

Asher pinned me with a confused look as I walked behind the bar and put on my apron.

“I thought you switched with Gemma?” he asked while filling a glass with Drakesville Lager for a customer.

I shook my head. “No, I was covering her shift last night. The three of us were always scheduled tonight.”

I wasn’t supposed to work last night, and it ruined my movie night plans with my little sister, Skye. We planned to celebrate the start of her summer vacation like we always did, but I couldn’t say no when Gemma told me Avery was having the baby.

Family meant everything to me, and it was the reason Gemma thought I was an asshole. Despite the absolute dickhole behavior I showed to Gemma, I was a nice guy at my core. So, of course, I covered her shift. Being an asshole to her was just a front. I wasn’t gonna tell her, ‘Sorry, Gemma, I stood you up because my dad’s in jail, and I have custody of my little sister again.’ It was better if she hated me instead.

“Gemma needed a favor,” I explained.

Asher’s eyebrows rose up high. “And you said yes?”

Okay, maybe my fights with Gemma were well documented. I’d rather she hated me than pitied me, though. Even if it sucked working beside the pink-haired hottie all the time. Was it a good plan? Absolutely not. But I didn’t want her to know about my fucked up childhood.

“Avery had the baby. I couldn’t say no when Gemma needed her shift covered,” I explained.

Asher pursed his lips, but left his comment unsaid when some customers came up to the bar, and we got busy serving them beer.

A couple of minutes later, I saw a flash of pink in my periphery.

Gemma.

I silently cursed and walked to the other end of the bar to clear away empty beer glasses. It was better if Gemma and I kept a few feet of distance between us.

“Hey, Gem,” Asher greeted.

I glanced over at the statuesque tattooed beauty as she clocked in for her shift. My eyes dipped down her frame and traced the lines of the flower tattoos on her arm. Chicks with tattoos and unnaturally colored hair were my weakness. With her pink hair and tattoos, she made my dick stand at attention, but I couldn’t go there. Not when I had slammed that door shut earlier this year.

Her blue eyes shot up to me when she caught me staring, and then the standard ‘Gemma Scowl’ marred her pretty face. “Take a picture. It will last longer,” she snapped.

“What are you in the fifth grade?” I teased.

Asher sighed. “I don’t know why Dec puts you on the schedule together.”

Asher walked into the back office, probably to bitch about us to Declan. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

I knew why Declan put Gemma and me on the same shifts. The same reason he forced me to work with her on the artwork for the brewery instead of doing it himself. He already told me to bang it out to give the rest of them a break. Yeah, no. If I got one taste of Gemma Jensen, I’d never let her go. But I’d only disappoint her in the end when I chose my sister over her.

Gemma was still glaring at me, but her next retort died on her lips when a guy wearing a Philadelphia Bulldogs jersey sat down. Gemma put on her customer service smile and leaned against the bar.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

“Are you on the menu?” hockey-bro joked.

I rolled my eyes, but Gemma gave the douche a flirtatious laugh. She had that way about her. She radiated positivity, and when she smiled, it was like the warm rays of the sun shone down on you. She never smiled at me like that. Instead, I got the heated glare of a woman scorned.

“No can do, my friend!” she told the customer with a laugh.

The guy laughed with her. “I’ll take the 611 Ale.”

“Ooh, great choice. I love that one!” Gemma said as she poured him the beer. She caught me staring at her. “What are you looking at?” she hissed in a whisper.

“Just you, sweet thing.”

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