“Yes.” I dragged myself to the keyboard using my heels.
“I saw you over at The Workshop.”
I hunched over and logged in. “For a minute.”
“How’s Sal?”
“Busy. Like me.” I flashed her a stiff smile and popped my headphones on. Electronic pulsing rewired my brain. My fingertips flew across the keys. I was a conduit of energy. Focus. Productivity.
Nothing could bother me, not until Ash flashed the overhead lights. “We’re closing in fifteen minutes.”
“Right.” I finished my notes, then stood to stretch. My spine cracked and popped. It was time to talk to Sal, get it over with. One more thing off the checklist.
I walked over to The Workshop only to find the grates down. Had he closed early? I peered through the dimmed window, my stomach twisting in knots.
Something was wrong. Off. I furrowed my brow and scanned the shelves.
Oh my god. I was too late.
My turkey–and Sal–were gone.
Static filled my mind. Any calm I’d had before short-circuited with adrenaline.
I had to fix this. Or pull the plug. Right now.
I drove to the bar on autopilot, then marched up to the bouncer, gripping my license so hard it hurt the creases in my hand.
The burly guy barely glanced at it this time. He jerked his chin. “Go ahead.”
I was hardly a regular, but I beelined for the part of the bar I knew best. That’s where I found Sal, huddled over a few beers, with Janice.
Everything in me tightened. It wasn’t because he was with his ex. It was because they were close together, hands on each other’s forearms, having some kind of heart-to-heart. They hugged, holding each other for a few agonizingly sentimental seconds.
His heart was never mine to begin with.
And yet, I wanted it.
I blinked, wet heat blurring the bar patrons into dirty streaks.
I made him a promise.
No more running. No more hiding.
I’d shown him the most intimate parts of me. I wasn’t going to leave without confronting an unfixable problem: unrequited love.
I adjusted my cap and strode up to the bar. I never drank, never allowed myself to be vulnerable after those pieces of shit in my program tried to coax me into bars after-hours. Only a coward relied on a drink. I downeda glass of water, then slammed the cup on the counter so hard the ice rattled. That was all the liquid courage I’d need.
Striding up to the chummy exes, I raised my chin. “Excuse me, Janice, may I have a word with your ex?”
Sal started.
Janice furrowed her perfectly manicured brows and backed up. “Uh, sure?”
He widened his eyes, glancing between us. “Hey, Z. I didn’t think you were coming.”
I grit my teeth. “Where is the turkey?”
Do you care about me?
