Page 26 of SALT

"Is this place really so small that you would know that?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Even if you didn't get dropped in my lap, chances are I would hear about the new girl from the guys. Small town means slim pickings. Any time there's a new girl in town, those barbarians out there start dick-measuring contests and lay their claim before they ever get a name."

That makes her laugh out loud. She leans against the counter and says, "You're funny. I wasn't expecting that."

"Oh yeah, why is that?"

She shrugs. "You look like one of those runway ready, mean girl, preppy bitches with their head up their ass."

"Thanks…" I drag out slowly.

"Oh, that's definitely not a compliment."

"Yeah, I got that, but I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl. You said 'runway ready,' so… that's a win." She snorts. "So where are you from?"

Even though she's not looking at me, I can see her smile fade, and I know instantly it's a sore subject or, at a minimum, it's a reminder of one.

"Nowhere worth mentioning." She pops the remaining donut in her mouth. "So, do we sit around and eat pastries all day? Because, if so, I'd like to add chocolate donuts to the list."

I hop off the counter. "Come on. I can teach you how to take inventory while I input the items and their prices into the system."

"So do we get a lunch break around here or what?"

I look over at Stormy, who's just about eaten all my snacks. I don't know where she puts it, but the girl can eat. If I ate all those snacks, they'd go straight to my hips. I mean, technically I planned on eating all of them, but maybe over the span of a few days, not in one sitting. I look down at my watch and see that it's already 12:30.

"Yeah, you can take a break if you'd like. We get thirty minutes."

She gets off the floor where she's been sorting the last shipment of T-shirts by size. "You're not going to take a break?"

I shrug. "I don't have my car today."

"I'd offer you a ride somewhere, but…" She shoots me finger guns. "I don't have a car either." She throws her thumb over her shoulder and adds, "I'm going to stretch my legs. I'll be back in a half hour."

"Sounds good."

I stand from the stool and raise my arms above my head to stretch myself just as a pair walking out to the parking lot catches my eyes. It's Everett with Moira's doppelgänger again. My mood wasn't too bad, all things considered, until this moment. This is the second time I've seen him leave the premises with her. I don't care, unpopular opinion or not, colleagues of the opposite sex shouldn't go out to lunch together. Unless you're in a group, one-on-one lunches are always more. There's always an ulterior motive. I've yet to meet Lauren, so I can't say for sure who is coming on to whom. She could be a gold digger looking for her next meal ticket, or Everett has a type and she checks all the boxes. Regardless, I know there is a motive.

I grab my carrot cake out of the beverage cooler I stashed it in before Stormy could gobble it up, only to realize I have no utensils. "Seriously," I groan, staring at it as though somehow it can solve all my life problems if only I had a spoon to eat it. Fuck it. I pick it up and take a huge bite just as Parker walks in from practice.

"Woah, slow down there, tiger," he jests as he approaches the counter.

I give him an unamused smile before saying, "You forgot to bring me a spoon."

"You could have walked down to the concession area and grabbed one."

"Yeah, but I needed a bite now." Walking down to concessions would have been a great idea, but going there to grab one would have defeated the comfort I needed from that bite at that very moment. I needed to feel better now, not five minutes from now.

"Damn, girl. What happened to all the other snacks I brought you? I told you to save some for me."

I reach for my bottle of water and take a drink to rinse down the remaining cake. "I got a trainee today, and she had an appetite." I shrug. "It's the thought that counts though, Parker. I'm not mad."

He pulls a spoon out of his back pocket. "You going to share your cake?"

"Depends. Are you going to tell me why you couldn't show up to literally save my life on Friday?"

He jabs his spoon into the cake. "Yeah, well, I suppose, in a way, I was saving another," he mumbles around a mouth full of cake.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I ask as I snatch the spoon out of his hand and steal my own bite.

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