Page 15 of Taming Bull

“I… I wanted to apologize for the other night. I brought you doughnuts.”

His jaw ticked. Without even looking at my tasty offerings, he replied, “You were right, and you didn’t do anything wrong.”

I was right? About what, exactly? And why did he seem so angry about it?

Before I could ask, he said, “Thanks for the doughnuts. I’ll make sure everyone knows they’re out here.”

I didn’t say they were for everyone; I specifically said they were for him. Yet, he made no move to take one. I watched Bull, willing the ice wall he’d erected between us to melt. Our friendship was bigger than one stupid fight. Silently begging him to say something more, I waited. But apparently, he was done speaking.

Were we finished? Had he thrown in the towel on me for good?

The new guy watched Bull like he’d just sprouted a second head. I understood his confusion. Bull’s behavior was so out of character, I didn’t have the faintest idea how to respond. It was like my crush had given up on warding off my advances, and now he was actively trying to push me away.

Oh hell no.

I stepped forward to either lay Bull out or give him a piece of my mind—I wasn’t sure which—and the new guy met me and offered his hand. “Hey. I’m Tay.”

I wanted to weave around him, but Grandma’s old etiquette lessons kicked right in. Besides, he was rockin’ a nice, genuine smile that deflated a little of my outrage. I met his firm but friendly handshake with my own, and gave him my brightest not-about-to-punch-Bull-in-the-stomach smile. “Lily. It’s good to meet you.”

“Likewise. Thanks for the doughnuts. It was really thoughtful of you to do that for us.” He elbowed Bull in the side. “Right, Bull?”

Bull shook out of his icy stupor. “Yeah. Thanks. You shouldn’t have.”

He added a little too much meaning behind that last part for my comfort. My chest hurt and my eyes stung, but I ignored the pain and held myself together. “The Dead Presidents have done a lot for me and…” My gaze drifted to Bull who seemed tense as hell and was doing his best to ignore us. I forgot what I was going to say. I wanted to shake him until that stupid wall came crumbling down. “It’s no big deal.”

“I gotta get to work,” Bull said. Without even looking at the doughnuts I’d spent more than I could afford on, he turned and stormed off.

I wanted to cry. No, I wanted to hit something, and then cry. No, I wanted to kick Bull in the shin and make him cry. Licking my beer bottle may have been taking our flirting game too far, but come on. He couldn’t still be pissed at me for that. Our friendship had lasted years, and he was going to throw it away over something so stupid?

Tay watched Bull retreat, and then offered me an apologetic smile. “I… Sorry? I don’t… He… Uh…”

I felt his confusion in my soul, really, I did. “I get it. Don’t worry about it.” Forcing a smile, I added, “Have a great day.” Then I got the hell out of there before the tears building up behind my eyes could stream down my face.

Okay, so I wasn’t staying completely away from him and probably should have given absence a little longer to let his heart grow fonder. I’d tried, but I was only human.

And internet relationship gurus could officially kiss my ass.

As far as I could tell, this entire mess was all their fault. If I hadn’t listened to their stupid advice on how to catch my man, Bull would still be my friend. Of course, I’d still be stuck in that black hole of a friend zone, but at least we’d have something.

Now, all I had was this gaping hole in my heart.

After leaving the shop, I’d wandered around the city until my feet brought me to the front door of this restaurant, promising broken heart relief in the form of food therapy. The tapping of the cashier’s fingertips brought me back to the present. No breakfast sandwiches. No carbs to stanch my bleeding heart. Right. Only it wasn’t right. It was so not right I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it. There had to be give and take, highs and lows, ups and downs. That’s how the universe worked. If I couldn’t have the man I wanted, I should at least be able to consume my bodyweight in the greasy, chewy goodness of my preferred comfort food. I needed one damn positive for all this negative.

The cashier must have seen the soul-crushing despair in my eyes, because she hurried to apologize. “Sorry. There’s nothing I can do. We don’t even have the supplies to make it anymore. We threw out what didn’t sell before we made the change.”

They threw it out? Like it was nothing? Like it didn’t have the power to fill this gaping hole in my heart. What kind of monsters would do such a thing?

Was Bull throwingmeaway?

“Can I get you anything else?”

There was a line forming behind me, and she needed to move me along to help the others. Why were they even here? Nobody should be eating lunch this early. No, I didn’t want some burger and fries. I wanted a goddamn breakfast sandwich like an American. But since I couldn’t have that, I dropped my head and ambled out of the restaurant. Needing someone to lament to about my crap-lousy day, I called Monica.

“Hey babygirl, what’s up?” she answered.

“Burger Villa no longer serves breakfast.”

“Um… Okay?” The confusion in her voice made it clear I’d have to give her the full story.

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