A spark of pride flares in my chest at her praise, and I lift my eyes in surprise. “Th-thank you.”
She gives a stiff nod but then points a finger at me with a frown. “Make sure you go on break today. Twelve to one. Take the full hour. Got it?”
I nod quickly. I fully intended to take my entire lunch hour today, and the reason why almost makes me smile.
Sharon gives me a look but doesn’t say anything else, and she spins on her heel and leaves the room.
When I’m finally alone again, I close my eyes and exhale a slow, shuddering breath, trying to let the tension out of my shoulders. I handled that well. Maybe. I don’t think things are really getting easier—all of my anxiety is still here with me, all the time. But Idothink I’m getting better at holding myself together when I really need to, including when I’m interacting with my boss.
With another long breath, I get back to work, keeping an eye on the clock in the lower right corner of the laptop. 11:42 a.m.
Soon.
He’ll be here soon.
I hope.
Butterflies flutter around in my stomach, and I find myself glancing toward the door every minute or so, overcome by a sort of eager anticipation. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like this before. In fact, I’m certain I haven’t, and when I glance up again at 11:58 a.m. and see him standing there in the doorway, his hand raised to knock, a wave of the most amazing warmth crashes into me.
He’s here. He came.
“Hey,” he says, lowering his hand as he steps in the room.
“Hey.” I’m grinning, and I can’t stop it. I don’t think I want to, though. It feels good. And that’s also something I’m not used to.
Alex shoves both of his hands in his pockets as he stares at me. His eyes look almost stormy, but he’s also smiling, maybe a little more tentatively than I am. That might be a first.
“The librarian lady said you were back here and to make sure you took your whole break today,” he says, arching his eyebrows.
Damn, he looks adorable like that.
“So, I thought we could grab tacos at Del Sol and then head to Harley’s for that ice cream we didn’t get last week, if we have time?” He’s still staring at me, and when I don’t respond, his smile deepens, and he laughs quietly. “Yo, Nico, you there?”
I bite my lower lip and nod slowly, and his eyes dart down to my lips as his cheeks turn the most perfect shade of pink. Fuck me.
“Yeah. That sounds good,” I manage, and I tear my gaze away long enough to save the file I was working on, close the laptop, and stand up. When I look back at him, his eyes meet mine with this soft, caring expression, and he smiles and tips his head.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll drive.”
“’Kay.”
A few minutes later, he pulls his mom’s truck into a parking spot in front of Del Sol, a taco place just a few blocks from the library. The rain is coming down pretty hard, so we hurry in, managing to not get too wet. I claim a table for us in the corner—thankful that it’s not busy—and Alex steps up to the counter to order us some tacos.
I have the briefest flicker of shame when I see him pull out his wallet to pay, but he glances over his shoulder at me and grins reassuringly like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. His grinbrightens up the whole room, I fucking swear, and all that shame turns into something warm and wonderful. Heat races up into my cheeks, and I lower my eyes.
A moment later, he sets two bottles of water on the table and slips into the seat across from mine. “It’ll be just a few minutes, they said.”
“Cool. Um, thanks for—” I wave a hand toward the counter, and he nods.
“Yeah, no problem.” He pushes one of the bottles of water across to me. “So, um, how was your morning?”
“Fine. You?”
He purses his lips and stares at me for a long second before nodding. “Fine, yeah. I, uh, helped my mom move the chairs and tables from the backyard, and that’s it, really.”
