Page 90 of Verses

I would get over this shit. Eventually.

But he, no doubt, had to get a few things off his mind so he could move forward as well.

Fine.

It wasn’t long before we were parked in front of the restaurant, heading toward its glass door. They’d decorated for Christmas, including a gawdy tree covered in hundreds of tiny twinkling lights and gold garland everywhere.

But it felt homey somehow. Cheery.

The waitress came out of the kitchen carrying four plates, leaving me wondering how the hell she did that. “Find a seat, guys. I’ll be right with you.”

“Bring coffee, please,” Wolf said.Oh.He’d been serious about that.

Soon we were seated in one of the booths closest to the kitchen. “I’ve never been here before. Are they always this busy?”

“It seems like it. I don’t come here too much but I wanted a cheeseburger back in June or July, and they had people at every table. I wound up getting it to go.”

The waitress appeared then, coffee carafe in hand, and Wolf turned over the mug on the table in front of him so she could fill it up. She asked me, “You?”

“No, thanks.” But something warm sounded good. “I don’t suppose you have hot chocolate.”

“I do. Be right back.”

Wolf raised his eyebrows, taking a sip of his coffee. Then he asked, “Want something to eat?”

“No.” I had no appetite. If I’d bothered, the only reason I’d be eating would be to fill that cold, empty spot—and I hoped the hot chocolate would take care of that.

The waitress returned with a mug of hot water and a packet of Swiss Miss. Although I hadn’t expected a do-it-yourself kind of drink, the warmth would still feel good in my belly. She nodded at the place setting, indicating I could use the spoon already on the table. “Are you ready to order everything else?”

“Just the drinks. Thank you.”

Smiling, the waitress nodded and left, checking on a table nearby.

Wolf sat up, taking a deep breath through his nostrils before looking me in the eyes, but I turned my attention to shaking the hot cocoa packet to get the contents to settle at the bottom. By the time I was ripping the top edge off, he said, “I don’t like what’s happening between us.”

“What do you mean?”

“How long have we known each other?”

I poured the cocoa mix in the mug and picked up the spoon, slowly stirring. “I’m not sure.”

“But it’s been a while. And would you say we’ve had a pretty easy friendship?”

I still refused to look him in the eyes. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve become good friends. Sure, we didn’t hang out when you weren’t at the bar, not till recently, but we talked a lot.”

“Yeah.” I took the spoon out of the mug, putting it in my mouth to take all the remnants of chocolate off it before placing it on the table. But the whole time I was wondering where he was going with all of this. I didn’t want anotherlet’s just be friendslecture.

“Are you willing to let our friendship go?”

Finally, I looked him in the eye, repeating a phrase I’d said moments earlier. “What do you even mean?”

“I mean you’re barely talking to me now. Not even looking me in the eye. You’re shutting me out.”

“No, Wolf.Youshutmeout.”

He sighed, taking a small swallow of coffee. Then he shook his head slightly before looking at me again. “I don’t want to rehash everything we’ve already gone over, but I want to just say this. You are a beautiful, talented young woman, and you could have any man you wanted. You deserve someone far better than me—and I think once you get over Kyle and stop looking at me with rose-colored glasses, you’ll see that.”

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