Page 166 of Verses

It was too easy. If people knew it was nothing more than chopped chicken nuggets, sliced scallions, diced red pepper and lettuce, slathered in ranch dressing and wrapped in a tortilla, they’d make their own at home.

High school kids…maybe not.

I’d looked up from the counter, not sure what I was seeing at first. When I realized it really was Wolf, a mixture of emotions flooded my chest—that surge of love I’d felt for him, followed quickly by anger and hurt.

Why the hell was he here?

What was worse, he came bearing gifts—roses and what appeared to be a box of chocolates. But what was the point?

My response wasn’t exactly friendly. When he got to the counter, I said, “What’s this?”

“Can we talk?”

“When?”

He wasn’t smiling but his eyes were gentle. “I can wait till your lunch break if you want. When’s that?”

“Hold on.” I clicked the button on my headset so I could talk to Ben. While I waited, I rolled up one of the wraps in plastic. When Ben answered, I said, “Sorry to bug you, but I wanted to ask if I could take a quick break.”

“Sure. Are you wanting to do that now?”

I put a date sticker on the wrap before setting it aside. “If I could.”

“Just give me a minute.”

Pressing the button to disconnect, I looked up at Wolf. “Go ahead and have a seat.”

“Would you take at least take these?” he asked, holding out the bouquet.

“I don’t have a vase, Wolf.” And, besides, I felt bitchy. I hadn’t asked for fucking roses.

“Okay.”Good.The look on his face communicated that he got the message. I wasn’t happy about how he’d treated me and I wasn’t just going to take it lying down. And I was pissed that we had to do this on his terms. He sat down at the table closest to the counter, still holding the roses and the chocolates, and I continued assembling the wraps, putting them in the front glass counter where high school students could see them when they came in at lunchtime.

Then I started cleaning my work area and it was spick and span by the time Ben came downstairs. My boss, typically nice, although a little quiet, seemed enthusiastic and happy today, something I hadn’t noticed earlier. “How long do you need, Hayley?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t really know. If I wind up taking too long, can we just call it my lunch break?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

At least I had one nice guy in my life.

As I looked over at Wolf, I realized something, though. A week ago, his presence here would have made me cry. And, when he’d first arrived, I’d been so pissed, I could have chewed a handful of nails and spat them out at him. Now I was something else. Not angry. Not sad. Not hopeful.

Resigned, maybe?

Something I’d been telling myself was that I had a lot of emotions that could be turned into awesome songs later on. I’d joked with Kyle about turning it all into lyrics, but I’d actuallybeen serious. Not only was it therapeutic, but our fans loved that shit.

They didn’t need to know it was all real.

Although I removed my apron and hung it up, I decided to leave my visor on, because I didn’t want to mess around with my hair. I also hoped to send the message to Wolf that this wasn’t social hour.

This was business. Say your piece and then get out.

I walked over to the table and simply stood, not wanting to sit down as if we were going to have an intimate conversation. Wolf said, “I want to talk but not here.”

“I have a break—but until my shift is over, I can’t go far.”

“What about a quick walk around the block?”

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