Page 42 of Verses

I couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under his eyes. Had he been asleep yet?

Forcing a small smile, I said, “You here for a latte?”

“Yeah, Hayley, I’m just dying for some caffeine.”

As much as I wanted to play dumb, there was no mistaking his sarcasm—and I could tell there was no way he would drop this until later. “So whatdoyou want?”

“I wanna know what the fuck is going on. Did you move out last night?”

“Hold on.” I tapped a little button on the headset that my boss Ben and I or whoever was working used to communicate when he was in his office instead of downstairs. When the shop would get busy or I needed to take a break, I’d ask him to cover for me. Sometimes I’d have to wait, but Ben never minded taking over for a bit.

“Yeah?” came the tinny voice through the earpiece.

“Can I take a break really fast?” Before he could put me off, I said, “Kyle’s here and needs to discuss something.”

“Be right there.” He must have remembered that Kyle could sometimes be volatile.

To Kyle, I said, “Ben’ll be here in a minute to cover for me and we can go outside or something to talk.”

“There’s nobody fucking here, Hayley. We can talk now.”

“But anybody could walk through the door any minute—and I’d rather not be interrupted.” And I definitely didn’t want them to witness what could potentially happen between us.

Ben appeared from the door over to the left that led to the staircase upstairs where both Ben’s office and living area were. “How are things, Kyle?” he asked my now-ex. He’d never had any issues with Kyle, but I could tell he was prepared for the worst. Because Ben appeared to be pretty solid in the upper-body area, I figured he could take Kyle if worst came to worst.

Kyle, his usual charming self, gave Ben a sarcastic answer. “They’re just great.”

“I’ll be back,” I said, removing my visor so customers walking past on the sidewalk wouldn’t be tempted to interrupt. I grabbed my jacket from the coat hook by the door, sensing Kyle right on my heels.

But I refused to be intimidated.

Ben, for his part, said, “Take your time.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted this shit over with, once and for all. Now that I’d made up my mind, I felt free.

Light.

Oddly relieved.

Except for this part.

The air was cool outside, but it was the breeze that made it less bearable. At least Kyle had been smart enough to wear a leather jacket, not something he always thought about.

“So what is it—”

But Kyle wouldn’t let me finish asking my question. “Did you move out last night?”

Of course, he didn’t know. He would never step foot in Liam’s old bedroom ever again. “Didn’t you see my toothbrush and comb in the bathroom?” I refrained from ending the sentence with the wordmoron. Escalating this conflict would only make it last painfully longer.

And I wanted to get it over with.

“So where’s your pillow? And all your other shit?”

“I moved into Liam’s bedroom.”

“What?What the fuck, Hayley? Why the hell would you do that?”

“I told you last night we’re through.”

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