“You shouldn’t work every night. Why don’t you come to the dance next Friday?”
“I can’t, Brianna. Haven’t you been listening? Just go with Anthony. You need to branch out a little bit for a change; stop hovering, for Christ’s sake.”
My heart squeezed as she winced and backed away. Making Brianna hate me was working. It’s what needed to happen, no matter how much it tore me apart. I wanted that pot roast dinner with her family. I wanted to slow dance with her in the gym and pull her body flush to mine and finally tell her how much she meant to me. But that couldn’t happen. Not in this life.
“Wow. Well, Falco, when you pull the stick out of your ass, you know where to find me.”
She turned and stomped down the street to her house. Despite myself, my eyes stayed glued to her as she ran away from me. The jobs Gio sent me on were becoming dangerous, and the longer I worked for him, the more I got sucked in. Colleges wouldn’t be breaking down my door once my luck ran out and I finally got caught.
If I broke Brianna’s heart by pushing her away, at least there was solace in knowing she’d end up whole.
Brianna
THE NEXT FEWweeks, I saw Scott even less. He was always headed somewhere, as the holidays presented more “schmoozing opportunities.” The little communication I did have with him, he was always apologetic. I stopped believing the excuses or thinking this was anything close to temporary. As their client list grew, his free time would diminish. His company would always be his number one priority, and I either accepted it or moved on. The fact that time away from Scott didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would—orshould—weighed on me, too.
Josh went back to South Carolina to visit his uncle at Thanksgiving, and I hadn’t seen him in a week. I didn’t have to question whether I missedhim, but I was grateful for the reprieve for just a little while.
To make matters that much worse, today was the season’s first snowstorm. Snow in New York is supposed to be fun and magical—especially in December. When you commuted in from Queens to Manhattan for work, it was nothing more than a ginormous pain in the ass. Predicted snowfall wasn’t enough to shut down the subways so I could stay home in fluffy slippers and sip coffee all morning, but it was enough to slow everything down to a glacier’s pace and make the short walk to the train station treacherous, especially with my tendency to slip and fall ondryconcrete.
I somehow traipsed out of my building on time and let out a groan. Snow came down hard, frosting the sidewalks with ice. My ugly snow boots, with heels guaranteed by the store to not slip, didn’t stop me from skidding into a tree. I latched onto the icy trunk and managed to break my fall. A drop of sweat trickled from my brow under my wool hat as panic and fear set in.
I hated fucking snow.
“Hey, Cupcake! Need a ride?” I peeked out of the top flap of my hood at the large black monstrosity with obnoxious, oversized tires pulling up to the curb. Josh’s new truck was hard to miss, even in the white-out conditions. I crept over, saying a Hail Mary with every step that I didn’t wipe out into one of the growing snow drifts along the sidewalk.
Josh stepped out and trudged to where I was stranded, extending his hand. He let out an exaggerated sigh. “You never could walk in the snow.”
My face twisted in a scowl as he shook his knit cap covered head.
“This is snow and ice, and shut up.” I gingerly stepped into the patches of fresh snow that had more traction.
“I think what you meant to say was, ‘Thank you, Josh. You’re my hero.’” Josh snickered as he held my hand and grabbed my arm. “Remember when we were kids, how I had to carry you over ice patches before you started to cry? I bet five more minutes and you would have teared up.” He lifted an eyebrow as I jumped in—well, as much as I could jump into a truck several feet off the ground. And the smug bastard was right. I had about five more minutes before the angry and scared tears flowed.
The warmth of the heat through the vents and the soft leather seats brought out a long, relieved breath. I could live another day without cracking my head open on the ice—or at least another ten minutes until I arrived at the subway station.
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” I leaned over to kiss his cheek, but stiffened right after. Now that I was aware, any friendly touch between us seemed too intimate and wrong.
Josh didn’t seem to mind my inappropriate gesture, though, as a wide grin spread across his face. “That’s much better. You know, if you got up just a little earlier . . . You used to get to school with seconds to spare. Still like to make it interesting, I see.”
“Nice truck. What happened, they didn’t have the big tires? Is that why you moved back, just to bust my chops?” I rolled my eyes as he laughed harder.
“No, but that was an added perk, for sure. I have a potential new client near your office, and I knew, as usual, you’d be running late, so I timed it perfectly. How about a ride all the way into the city?”
Josh’s truck was better suited for snow than one of the sanitation trucks that we trailed along the main road. “What would I do without you?”
“Probably take a face plant into the snow, but someone would dig you out eventually.” Josh winked at me, and despite my best attempts to narrow my eyes at him, that wink made my insides melt faster than the snow dripping off the shoulders of my down coat.
“I love snow days!” Tanya chirped as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head. We were assigned to work together when I first started at the agency. She was design and I was copy, but we formed a fast friendship that turned into a great partnership.
“Yeah, sure,” I scoffed. “We’re one of four idiots who showed up at work today.”
“Five.” Scott appeared at my door with a Chipotle paper bag and a smile. My face dropped at the sight of him. He used to love to pop into my office since his accounting firm was only a couple of blocks away, but that was before he was too busy to even return a text during work hours.
“Hey, Scott!” I rose from my chair to give him a hello kiss. “Burrito bowl?”
“Of course.” He kissed my forehead. “I know my girl.” His lips curved into a smile as he squeezed my hand. A pang of guilt assaulted my gut as I squeezed back. I gazed into his hopeful baby blues and couldn’t help the grin across my cheeks. In spite of it all, I missed him. I missed us—the way we used to be.
“We can have a private lunch since hardly anyone is here. Wimps stayed home for the most part.” I led Scott to our tiny break room and grabbed the bag from his hand.
