“Yeah, of course I will.Why not?”She offered him a smile.“I miss Ava, and I hated doing what I did, and I didn’t know how to call.”She reached across the table.“Thank you.”
Smokey opened his mouth and then closed it, as the waitress brought their drinks.Larissa smiled at the woman and thanked her.Smokey didn’t say anything.
Putting the straw to her lips, she took a nice, long drink of her milkshake.It was cold, chocolatey, and just so damn perfect.
“I’ll make sure Big Dick doesn’t come around.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Larissa said.“I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”
She would stand on her own two feet.
“Thank you.”
Larissa took another long drink of her milkshake.The waitress had put their drinks in to-go cups rather than glasses.“Is it okay if we go over there?”Larissa asked.
“Sure.Why don’t you make your way over, and I’ll go and pay?”
She grabbed her drink and made her way out of the diner, ignoring some of the stares she got.Her father had told her she should ignore them and just keep her head held high.One day, they’d find someone else to gossip about.
Larissa knew what she had done wrong—she’d fallen in love.That had been her biggest mistake.
Stepping out of the diner felt so good, and she looked down the long main street of the town and crossed the road, going straight to Ava’s Bakery.
She felt her stomach twisting.She pushed open the main door, stepped inside, and Larissa knew Ava was completely swept off her feet.The woman that always looked so in charge, so controlled, was trying to balance the baking in the back and orders.The shop was full of customers.Some of them seemed to look even more frazzled at the long wait.Ava had often prided herself on the short waiting times.
She took a long suck on her straw, filled with chocolatey goodness, and then she pulled her hair back and stepped up behind the counter.
“What can I get you?”Larissa asked, grabbing an apron and a quick hairnet to help.
The man at the counter looked so irritated and stated his order through gritted teeth.Larissa stayed calm, cool, and composed as she packaged his order, rang it up, and moved on to the next customer.
By the time Smokey walked through the door, Larissa had taken care of half the line, and the customers had gone from looking angry to happy.Within half an hour, the shop was cleared, and Larissa was already packaging the latest baked goods and getting them ready on the counter.Before she could move to the counter, Ava pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly.
“Thank you,” Ava said.
Larissa smiled.“I had no idea you were struggling this way.If I had known, I would have come here right away.”
“Your place is here, Larissa, always, but I know what it is like to have to deal with ...everything.”Her friend hugged her again and kissed her temple.She had also known Ava had looked down at her clothes.She’d gone to a secondhand store and swapped some of her dresses for more pairs of jeans and shirts.Wearing dresses had stopped being quite so appealing.
“I better get back to work,” Larissa said.
No one knew that Big Dick had told her how much he liked her in dresses, how pleased he was to see her in them.He would tell her how beautiful and sexy she was.This is why she had opted for jeans.
Each time she put on a dress, it reminded her of him and what a fool she had been.She was not going to be a fool again.
****
Big Dick had spenta lot of time around his folks lately.He was even staying in his old room.He’d gone to visit Erick and buried the hatchet with him.They were on speaking terms, and this Sunday, there was going to be a family dinner that he’d even convinced Harlow to attend.Hunter had also been forced to agree to go.That was going to be fun to watch Hunter with his parents.
He ran a hand down his face.Larissa had finally taken her old job back.He looked down at the shot of whiskey he had poured himself, and the temptation to knock it completely back was so strong, but he didn’t do it.Nope, instead he just circled the rim with his finger and waited.He didn’t even know what he was fucking waiting for, but he was waiting.
Larissa.
He hadn’t gone to the bakery, although that was the only place he wanted to go.He wanted to go and see her, to talk to her.Instead, he stayed out of the way and caught a glimpse of her as she closed up shop with Ava.She wore a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater, and it was fucking ugly.Where were the dresses?Over the past week, he had seen her in a pair of jeans and ugly sweaters every day.He knew it was because of him.What the fuck could he do to win her over?
He missed her so damn much.Sleeping was next to impossible.He couldn’t sleep without her.He found himself looking across the bed to that empty spot, wanting to reach out and touch it.
Larissa wasn’t there.
