She looks genuinely concerned, and part of me feels bad about it, but the other part of me is still haunted by my past and the cruelty of others.
“I should go,” I deflect.
Her bottom lip juts out and quivers just a tad. “I really didn’t mean to make you angry, Krampus.”
“You didn’t.”
“I can read people. You’re mad at me. You wouldn’t have jerked your arm away if you weren’t.”
“I just don’t like being touched.”
She nods, but still seems unsure. “That may be so, but you look angry.”
“I said I’m not angry!” My voice rises to the point that it wakes up Amber and Gremlin. “Just drop it, okay?”
She takes a cautious step back and frowns. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
“Rich…” Amber starts.
“We’re leaving, Amber. It’s early, and I need some sleep.”
She nods, but not before she walks over to Mindy and gives her a friendly hug. She whispers something in Mindy’s ear, both of them looking at me strangely, before she says, “I’ll be back later today to help you prepare for tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to do that, Amber.”
“Girl, I’ve been where you are. You need the help. Consider it an early Christmas present. Once you get on your feet with a steady flow of customers in the shop, you can hire some staff to help you out more.”
Mindy has tears bubbling in her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll keep baking these badass sweets, sweetheart,” Gremlin pipes in. “Especially those damn cinnamon rolls.”
My hand raises, ready to smack the shit out of him.
This time, Gremlin takes control of his own reprimand, smacking himself so hard, it whips his head to the side, a fresh red handprint etched into his cheek. “I’ll get it one day, VP,” he says with a grin, rubbing at his cheek before giving me the finger.
“I can’t thank you guys enough. Honestly, I couldn’t have done this without you.” She holds my gaze for far too long. Seconds I can’t give her back. Nobody should look at me the way she does. I’m a monster. There’s nothing attractive about me, and yet… there’s something there that wasn’t there before.
Once outside, Amber grins widely. “She likes you, Rich.”
“She does not,” I grump, settling into the driver’s seat as Gremlin slides into the backseat, smacking on the cinnamon roll Mindy gave him before we left. There’s already frosting on hislips and mouth, and he’s so lost in the treat, he doesn’t even notice me glaring at him in the rearview mirror.
“Why are you always so negative about everything, Rich? You’ve been like this since high school, especially around new people, women in particular. Is it that hard to believe that a girl might actually like you?”
“Have you looked at me, Amber? Like really looked at me? People aren’t nice to me because they like me; they’re nice to me because they pity me. I saw the way she looked at Voorhees yesterday when he came in to help. There’s a difference. She looks at me like I’m a charity case, the poor guy who was disfigured as a boy and nothing but a monster now. But him… she looked at him like he was fucking sex on wheels. There’s a difference, Amber, and I know it when I see it. Guys like me don’t get girls like her.”
“So, you do like her!” Amber shouts, knowing damn well I do.
“Shut up.”
“No, no. We aren’t doing this, Rich. You like her. Probably more than you’ve liked a girl in a very long time.”
“Just drop it.”
But the woman is persistent; she turns to me with that knowing look, the one that sees through the bristled backbone and thorns that keep everyone out. She’s analyzing everything about me, and I hate it.
“Face it, Rich, you like her. Now you just have to build up your confidence, and realize she likes you too, despite you being an asshole to her this morning.”
“I wasn’t an asshole.”
