Page 53 of Three Little Words

Chapter Seventeen

Benny

I didn’t talk to Bryn later that day.

Or the next.

I didn’t know if I wanted to talk to her at all.

A part of me wanted nothing more than to talk to her. I wanted to hold her again, have her back in my house.

A part of me was so shocked, so angry, that I was seriously considering never talking to her again.

I stayed away from the new shop, even if it was annoying Ryker and Logan. I was supposed to have final say, but couldn’t make myself go and approve anything.

I was too worried about seeing Bryn.

I hadn’t regretted renting a space so close to Skin Buzz until now.

It took me a week to get my head on straight. Straighter, anyway.

I needed to talk to Bryn.

However it ended, we both needed the closure. We needed to be able to move on, either together or separately.

I sighed heavily, putting the last of my stuff away for the day.

“Hey, Zoe,” I called.

“Yeah, boss.” She looked up from the display case she’d just rearranged.

“I’m heading over to East. I probably won’t be back today.”

“Sounds good. I’ll tell anyone who calls for you to check back tomorrow.”

“Good.” I nodded, turning to Bradley. “Call if you need me.”

“Sure thing, man.” Bradley smiled. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yup. See you then.”

Ryker and Logan were both watching me.

I waved to them. “I’m gonna go check out the shop. I’ll text if I have anything to tell you.”

“Sure.” Ryker nodded once. “Okay. Let us know how you like it.”

“You got it.”

I drove across the river to Malone, sighing as I parked in the lot of Skin Buzz. I’d go over to my new shop soon, but this was more important.

My gut felt tight with worry. We needed some kind of decision between us, and I wasn’t entirely sure how either of us felt about this. How we felt about us.

I walked into Skin Buzz. The girl I’d seen last week—Marissa—was there, along with a few other beautiful women.

Bryn had a really attractive staff working for her.

Marissa smiled at me as I came in. “Hey, Benny. Looking for Bryn?”

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