Page 21 of Kyle

“You’ll have to learn to deal with him.”

“I deal with him just fine.”

“And he needs to learn to stop asking things of you. He needs to learn to stop using you as a crutch.”

“A crutch? Is that what I am? You’ve been here, what? A month? And you’ve got it all figured out,” I snap, irritation in my voice.

“I didn’t say I had all the answers, but I know what I see. He leans on you more than he should. Surely, you can agree with that.”

I hate that she’s right. I also hate that she’s pretending not to know what the real problem is. Or maybe she’s pretending it doesn’t exist. Ormaybeit’s because she doesn’t feel any vibe happening between us. For some reason, that pisses me off even more.

“Whatever. Can we work and not talk?”

At that moment, the man I served the three orders of chicken chili approaches the window.

“Hey, man.”

I dip my head. “Yes, sir?”

“I wanted to let you know how much we loved this stuff.” He holds up his bowl. “This chili is awesome.” He gestures to the bench where the two women he came with are sitting. “My girlfriend went on your social media and left you your first five-star review.” He gives me a thumbs up. “I just wanted you to know.”

“I appreciate it. And tell her thanks so much for the review.”

“She’s going to tag Food Truck Tina in a post and rave about it. Maybe she’ll come and try it. A good word from her can do amazing things for your business.”

“Really? Who’s Food Truck Tina?”

“She’s a food critic in the Bay Area. Every season she gives a top ten list, and if you earn one of her Five Forks Awards, your business will go through the roof. It happened to a friend of mine in San Francisco.” He scrolls on his phone and turns the screen toward me. “This is her social.”

Sutton leans out the window and snaps a photo of his screen. “Thanks, mister. We’ll be sure to check her out. We’d love for her to come try our chili.”

“Have a great day.” He wanders away.

I stare at Sutton. “You ever hear of this person?”

Her face lights up with excitement as she scrolls through her phone. “Oh, my God, Kyle. She’s big time. A good review from her is like magic. She can literally make or break a business.”

“What if she hates it? If she posts a bad review, my business is over before it gets off the ground,” I grumble.

“What if she likes it? What if she says your food is fantastic? It could mean everything. You’ve got to be positive.”

“I’m positive,” I argue.

She huffs. “You are totally a glass-half-empty kind of guy.”

I want to defend myself, but… maybe I am. I never used to be. When the hell did that happen?

I pick up the spatula and start scraping the grill with jerky motions. Great. Now I’m the sad-sap Eeyore character who thinks everything is doom and gloom. That’s not exactly the way I want Sutton to see me, but apparently, she does.

Fucking fantastic.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kyle—

Two days later, I’ve got the Food Truck up and running for the dinner rush, and Sutton is supposed to be here helping me, but she’s twenty minutes late.

I wonder if she’s decided not to show at all. Great. I fought having her here, and now I realize I’ve already come to depend on her.

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