Page 14 of Bad Kind of Love

CHAPTER THREE

Becca

I was stuck working on the busiest Saturday of the year. The last day of summer, and the hottest day on record in decades. While most teens were at the beach or living it up in the sun, I was stuck here. And to make matters worse my prick of a boss was working too, breathing down my neck because apparently my scoops were “too big”.

We were bombarded by customers left and right. By eight o’ clock, the crowds died down and we were officially almost out of ice cream. My feet were killing me and I was drenched in sweat.

How does that even happen in an ice cream shop?

Scrubbing down the ice cream and sprinkled covered counters, I hear the dreaded sound of the bell go off from the door opening and along with it, laughter.

“Hey guys! Welcome to Cool Times.” Jerry announced a little too eagerly behind the register. A few seconds pass and I feel a pair of searing eyes burning through my head. Lifting my gaze, I notice it’s Jerry, glowering at me with a sour look across his face. Motioning his head toward the front door, I let out a huff and peer over at the customers.

“Welcome to…” I start to pronounce when my eyes land on familiar faces.

Fuck.

“Becca?” Vicky’s amused voice rings in my ear like a bad song. Eyeing me up and down, she lingers on the ice cream cone hat with a grin across her pink stained lips. What really sends my heart into a frantic mess is the group of people surrounding her.

But a familiar face with aqua eyes stands out from the rest of them.

Wes.

Fidgeting under his intense stare, I feel a flush creep across my cheeks. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn’t smiling or giggling. If anything, he looked pissed.

As Jerry takes their order, one after the other, I set their ice cream on the counter, avoiding their entertained stares.

“Nice hat.” Vicky mumbles as she grabs her sundae. Next to her, Wes frowns peering up at me apologetically. Ignoring her completely, I’m seconds away from squirting chocolate sauce down her satin top when Jerry interrupts my thoughts.

“Becca?” He shouts annoyed. Wincing, I slowly turn around. “See that sticky ass mess over there?” Pointing to a table near the back, there’s a puddle of pink ice cream melted all over the floor.

Nodding, I already know what he has up his sleeve.

“Well?” He shakes his head. “It’s not gonna clean itself.”

I inwardly groan, as the vein in my arm twitches with anger. One of these days I was going to snap, but right now I needed the money. As much as I wanted to snap back, I held it in.

Heading into the back, I grab the mop bucket and wheel it out until my eyes wander over to the spot I have to clean. Directly across from it, Vicky and her crew are all sitting.

“Problem?” Jerry interjects, moving his gaze from me and the table full of my peers.

“No. Not at all.” I squeeze the mop handle a little too rough, to the point that it stings.

“Good.” He grins before peering back down at the register.

Taking in a much-needed breath before I make my way to my own social demise, I start wheeling the bucket. With my chin down, and bangs hanging low, I saunter past their table without a hitch.

No rude remarks or laughter.

Strange.

Once I make it to the sticky mess, I pull out the mop and start wiping the checkered floor left and right. With my back facing them, I continue the back-and-forth motions of the mop till I see a pair of rhinestone sandals enter my line of vision.

Lifting my eyes, I catch Vicky staring down at me with a devious gleam. Before I know it, she was dumping over the last of her melted down sundae, splashing it all across the freshly cleaned floor and onto the tops of my chucks.

What. The. Fuck.

“Oops.” She tilts her head while shrugging her shoulders innocently. But she was anything but.

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