Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(38)

Trey’s eyes widen over the male voice and he pushes his chair back a fraction, but doesn’t stand. I turn back to the counter. “I'll be right there.”

I ignore Mari but look Trey directly in the eye, my lips still stretched across my face. “Well it looks like my shift is over, but my replacement will be right over to take your order. Have a nice night.”

I untie my apron on the walk to the counter throwing it in the dirty bin past the kitchen door before I meet Jamie at the clock out station. If I hadn’t just met the boy, I’d hug him.





CHAPTER TWENTY


“Do you need a ride to work today?” Aspen asks as she enters the small tiled kitchen.

“No, it’s two blocks and I’m not due in for a while.” I don't admit my secondary reason, a promise to myself that I would interrupt Aspen’s life as little as possible while I’m here. The woman barely knows me, but she’s opened her place without anything expected in return. It’s more than I asked and I’m clueless as to how to repay her. The $500 in rent I’ll force her to take doesn't feel like enough.

Aspen peeks her head into the living room where I sit on top of my makeshift bed now a couch again. When she looks back at me, her face is scrunched up on one side in question. “I hope the couch was okay. You folded it out, right?”

“Yeah, I picked it up already, but I slept great. Thank you.”

I set my alarm for six to make sure the area lacked all evidence of my sleeping here before she left her room.

“Don’t worry about it every day. No one is ever here.” She points to the refrigerator. “Rule 4: No more than two extra people in the apartment at any time.

“Those are serious?” I thought they were some kind of joke from Finn.

Aspen laughs. “At least when the penthouse owner’s here. He’s gone right now, but I try not to go too wild in case he shows up before Finn can warn me." She opens the fridge and peers in before closing it empty handed. “Anyway, if you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks.” My eyes fall across the counter. “One question, are you hiding the coffee maker?”

She crosses by the counter and sits on a stool by the bar. “Sorry, no coffee maker. I have no taste for it, but there’s a coffee shop on the ground level next to the bookstore. They kind of play off one another.”

“I have one from my old place. Do you mind if I set it up?” I wait for her to agree and then gather my courage to ask the question I’ve thought about a hundred times since I returned to San Francisco. “Pen,” I lead with her nickname, “what’s up with Trey and Mari?”

She grimaces at my question. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” I hurry to remove any guilt over betraying a friendship. Maybe I was wrong in assuming she and Mari weren’t close.

She leans her elbows on the counter and sits her face in them. “No really, Simone. I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about her and he's never brought her to the comic shop, which I guess is some big step for the guys. They act like it’s a privilege I’m allowed in, when in reality it’s kind of boring.” Her head pops up as if she remembered I’m here. “Don’t tell Finn.”

I do the universal hand signal for zipping my lips and allow her to continue.

“As far as I know, they aren’t dating. When the guys get together she’s never there. Is she the reason you dumped Trey?"

I blow out a long exaggerated breath and roll my head to the ceiling. “I don’t know. Yes. Trey never told me about Mari, but then I saw her at an event the night before I left.” I avoid the mention of where I rushed off to that day. We all know. “He said they had an agreement.”

“Agreement? What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t want to know.” I shrug my shoulder and shake my head even though there’s a tiny part of me that wants to know even more than I want double fudge ice cream.

“Hmm. I’ll try to get details from Finn, but I’m not sure how much he knows either. After you left Trey was upset. I’m pretty sure he thinks you blew him off and wouldn’t let him explain.” Her expression goes soft and she drops our eye contact moving hers to the wall beside me. “He asked me what to do, which is how I found out and then when I called to invite you to brunch…well….you know.” She trails over my mother's death.

“So you didn’t tell him about my mom?” I ask and freak out a little over the fact I said Mom and didn’t cry. It’s probably the first time in months.

“No, it’s your story to tell and not everyone deserves to know.” Her finger rubs under her eye, but she pretends we both don't see it.

“Thanks.”

If anyone understands what I’m going through, it’s Aspen. At least I still have my dad. I can’t imagine losing both my parents at six like she did. She's right about her last comment too. It is my story to tell, if, when, and who I decide to tell it to. I don’t owe Trey or anyone else.

Aspen clears her throat and it draws my eyes back to her as she fidgets with a piece of loose mail on the counter. “I will warn you though,” she sucks some air between her teeth, “Trey called Finn last night and asked why you’re working in a coffee shop.”