Page 21 of Envy

“Ahh… boyfriend,” he says, fishing for the truth. She shakes her head. I watch in slow motion as his eyes light up like she gave him the greatest gift in the world. Her voice and an opening to keep talking to her. Stealing her eyes, her voice, and her time when they weren’t his. “I’m?—”

“In the way,” I interrupt him scornfully. He looks up, and so do his stupid friends. I watch his expression turn to shock when he recognizes me. “What’s up, Garret?” he says nervously, looking between me and Rose. “Could you move? I’m kind of hungry.” I open the door wider, forcefully holding it open,arching my brow at Rose to hurry the fuck up before I stab him in the eyes, break his fucking hands, and cut out his tongue. Rose doesn’t argue and moves like it started to rain.

Dorathy smiles when she places the menus on the table, her matchmaking eyes shifting between me and Rose. “I haven’t seen you here in a while, handsome,” she smiles. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

Rose grins awkwardly, not knowing what to say, and I’m pissed at the way the asshole keeps looking this way. If it weren’t for Dorathy, I would have walked over there. I grab the menu and scan it like I don’t know what I want. “Her name is Rose.”

“Hi, Rose,” Dorathy says brightly. “I’m Dorathy.”

Rose smiles, and my chest tightens at how gorgeous she is when her lips stretch, showing her white teeth. One is slightly shifted, and I want the imprint of her bite on my skin. “It’s nice to meet you, Dorathy,” she replies gently. Dorathy looks at me with pride in her eyes. “She’s gorgeous, Garret.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I point out.

“Well, I guess some other guy will be lucky to have her then.”

Rose looks down at the menu. We both know that isn’t going to happen for very different reasons. I place my order. Dorathy patiently waits for Rose. Rose bites the corner of her lip. It’s so innocent. I’m not sure she knows she does it. She looks at Dorothy like she’s summoning the courage to speak. “Can I have a glass of water and fries? The small basket, please?”

I frown, scanning the menu and finding the small basket of fries where Dorothy created a value menu. A small basket of fries is $2.95. What the fuck? “She’ll have the special, Dorothy,” I order. “Burger, large fry, and a strawberry milkshake.”

Dorothy smiles, ignoring Rose’s panicked expression. “There we go,” she says, taking the menus. When Dorothy is out of earshot, something flashes in Rose’s eyes. “Why did you do that?”

“Because you’re too skinny, and you need to eat.”

“Why the fuck do you care?” she says, as if I offended her.

“Hmm… I like this side of you so much better. You should let out whatever the fuck is keeping you from speaking up. I know there’s a wildfire inside waiting to be lit.”

She rolls her eyes.

“And you’re the fucking match, right?”

“Is that what you want, Rose?” I lean close. “You want me to be your match?”

Her pupils go wide. Her brown eyes are so rich, I would pay anything to drown in them.

Her straight hair frames her face, so pretty and delicate. I bet my hands would leave dents a flat iron couldn’t straighten.

“Why are you doing this?” she asks, looking around the red-and-white decorated diner like she’s never been to one.

“I don’t know what you mean. I was hungry and bored with useless people. Don’t read too much into it. I said I would make sure you ate, and unlike you, I keep my promises.”

“Like you did to your girlfriend, Cassie,” she says sardonically. I smile when I see jealousy the spark of jealousy in her eyes. “I thought we talked about this. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“But you told your mother…”

“I said I kept my promises. I never said I didn’t lie.”

“What promise is that?”

I lean back. “Well, that depends.”

“On?” she presses, trying to sound tough.

“What I want,” I say truthfully.

“What do you want?” she asks, curiously, but I can tell deep down she’s afraid of the answer.

Her eyes tell me what her words can’t. She’s afraid I want her. That I would break the wall we’ve built between us. A wallwe couldn’t break because we weren’t sure if we would survive once we crossed it, but I have to kill her.

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