What the hell was happening? What was the hurry?
I thought we were supposed to chat about emotions again after breakfast. Not that I wanted to, but I thought we’d get to hang out another hour at least.
Victor sauntered into the kitchen with his empty mug and glanced over his shoulder. “He’s not leaving because of me, is he?”
“No.” I glowered, cupping my mug for warmth. I had the unsettling feeling he was leaving because of me.
27
Store It Away
The next day, I observed him and Ash chatting throughout the shift, and picked up as many tidbits about the state of things as I could amid the chaos of fixing shit.
“How’s your mystery girl?” Ash asked, wiping down a thumbprint-covered screen.
“Good.” He raised his arm to lean on the wall, but his elbow slid off and nearly sent him flying.
She chuckled. “What happened? Are you still going out?”
“We don’t really ‘go out’ much.” He fiddled with a photo app on one of the tablets, trying to delete the gallery, which included some cute girl with dyed-blonde hair and her handsy, overly-coiffed boyfriend.
“Oh, you stay in?” Ash wagged her brows and snatched the screen from him to polish it.
“Well, we’re casual. Casually dating. Er, something.” He slid his hand through the air and glanced at me.
Was having a friend with benefits embarrassing?
She snorted. “You hate casual.”
“I’m learning to be less needy,” he said, raising his chin and scratching his goatee.
Ash hummed and locked up the now-clean tablets. “So, she’s set up boundaries. She doesn’t want to go out in public. Not communicating. Doesn’t seem like a love connection to me.”
I bristled and stood up. “Of course they’re not in love. They only just started dating. And what’s wrong with boundaries, anyway?”
Ash quirked her eyebrow, and Sal tensed.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head.
Didn’t he care that she was judging us? Or was it not supposed to matter?
She shrugged. “Maybe he needs someone more loving. That’s all I’m saying.”
Was I…were we not loving?
Mind whirring, I tugged my cap down. “Sorry, I’ll just be in the…storage.”
Ugh, I was such an idiot. I closed myself in the cramped closet.
How was someone supposed to love anyone in the beginning? There weren’t any giant spider mechs to save him from. He’d never cried or needed comforting beyond a distraction from this whole Janice thing. We were building on a friendship, taking things slowly.
Then again, he could be building up his self-esteem for his next relationship. Not everything was about me. This wasn’t a long-term arrangement. Except it might be. But what if I wasn’t capable of it? Maybe he knew, and that’s why he left in such a hurry.
Sal knocked the tune of the battle win theme from Final Fantasy games. “Can I come in?”
“Are you allowed to?” That had to be an insurance liability, and I didn’t need to give Ash another reason to fire me.
“Ash sent me.”
