The man that broke my heart last year and dumped me in front of my family.
The man that told me to leave and never gave me a reason why.
Thatman is standing at my booth andsmilingat me.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” Kevin coos as he beams at me. Like he didn’t rip my heart out and smash it into a billion and one pieces last year.
The smile I had plastered on my face about two seconds ago turns into a scowl immediately. “What are you doing here, Kevin?” I take a step away from the counter and cross my arms across my chest. It might seem like a petulant move, but it makes me feel like I’m wearing armor while guarding my heart.
“I wanted to talk to you, and you refuse to answer any of my calls.”
“Why would I bother answering your calls a yearafteryou dumped me and ghosted me?” I snap back.
“That was…unkind of me. And I’m here to talk about it,” he sighs and runs his hand through his dark hair. “I just really want to talk. Please?”
I feel my resolve melting away slowly, like the poor faces of the gingerbread men I tried to bake myself years ago. Whether I like it or not, I’ve always wondered why he left me. He gave me no reason, and absolutely no closure. My heart has been closed off and guarded ever since, and I’d really love it if I could attempt to open it up again.
I glance over to where Spencer was standing and my heart drops when I see that he’s gone. I didn’t even notice him walk away, but his giant tree is missing too. I sort of wish he was here right now for that same emotional support he lent me last night.
I look back over to Kevin who is standing there looking like he just stepped out of a GQ magazine. His dark hair is in a stylish disarray that only he could pull off, and his dark eyes are still that same smug chocolate brown with hints of gold in them. The jeans he’s wearing look brand new and freshly pressed, to go right along with his taupe overcoat and deep green scarf. It’s honestly alarming how good looking he is, and totally unfair. He doesn’t look as if he’s spent the last year crying himself to sleep, while wondering if there’s a way to change every single piece of you to make someone love you enough to stay.
To chooseyou.
“Okay,” I finally answer him. “You can get one minute of conversation for every cookie you buy.” I cock my eyebrow at him and wave my hand towards the delicious assortment of cookies on the counter between us.
Kevin smiles as he steps closer to get a better look at them, his expensive cologne wafts over me. I’m momentarily taken back to all the nights we spent tangled up in bed together, both of us basking in the New York sunrise peeking through the open blinds of his home, surrounded by that same cologne.
“I’ll take sixty cookies then,” he says with a smug smile. Money has never been an issue for him, but this is ridiculous.
“I’m not letting you buy sixty cookies, Kevin.” I throw my hands up in defeat. “Just tell me what you want to tell me so I can go back to winning.”
“What are you winning?”
“Uh, umm. It’s nothing,” I stammer out. I’m not about to tell him that I’m competing in my family’s childhood game, and that I’m very much in it to win it. He never understood the juvenile things in life, like having a Gizmo backpack just for the fun of it. That was tooimmaturefor his eclectic tastes.
“Look at you blushing for me, Phoebe. Don’t you miss this? Don’t you miss us?” he preens as he steps closer to the counter, to me.
I take an unsettled step back. Because part of me does miss him, and another part of me wants to spit in his face and scream at him to leave me alone.
Do I misshimnecessarily? Or do I miss not being alone? Because this last year has been nothing but my own personal hell of loneliness.
“Hey babe, how’s work going?” I feel an arm sneak around my waist and the smell of Christmas trees surrounds me.
Spencer.
I gaze up at him and he’s looking at Kevin with his panty-dropper smile plastered all over his face as he squeezes me against him tighter. I know I should be pushing him away, but the look of envy written all over Kevin’s face keeps me from doing just that.
“Hi hun! I was wondering when you’d get here.” I let my gaze linger on Kevin for a moment before I smile at Spencer. My stomach goes haywire when his eyes meet mine and he flashes that soft, crooked smile. The smile I’ve secretly reserved as my own.
Spencer reaches his hand out over the counter and Kevin literally stumbles forward to shake his hand in return. “Hi, I’m Spencer. Phoebe’s boyfriend. Did I hear that you wanted to buy sixty cookies?”
“I, uh. Yeah. I’m Kevin,” he responds curtly and pulls out his wallet. His eyes don’t leave Spencer’s while he hands me his credit card.
“Thanks, Kevin. I’ll have these boxed up for you in a jiffy!” I pull out of Spencer’s grasp and start counting cookies. I feel the testosterone building next to me, but I refuse to acknowledge it. I’m still reeling over the fact that Spencer came to my rescue…again.
And I might be freaking the hell out over the butterflies that have taken flight in my stomach over the fact that SpencerfreakingLarson called himself my boyfriend.
Get a grip, Pheebs. He’s just playing nice because he saw you floundering in Kevin’s presence again. No matter how handsome and sweet he may seem now, he’s still the same guy that kissed Piper on our first date.
