Page 60 of Jesse
"Right, Aiden! Sorry about that." I gave him an apologetic smile. "What can I get you?"
He rattled off his order, and I nodded, already reaching for the ingredients. As I handed it to him, I said, "It’s on the house."
Aiden held up his wallet, shaking his head. "Please, let me pay."
I insisted, waving him off. "Not happening. Consider it a thank-you."
For a second, it looked like he might argue, but then he relented with a chuckle. "Alright, I won’t fight you on it."
As Aiden walked off, Jesse appeared behind me, his tone sharp enough to cut through the quieting bustle. "Since when do we give out freebies?"
I turned, startled by the edge in his voice. His gaze fixed in the direction Aiden had disappeared.
"It’s not a big deal," I said quickly, brushing it off with a shrug.
"Sure," he muttered, his eyes narrowing just slightly. "He must be pretty special, huh?"
The comment caught me off guard. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
Jesse’s jaw tensed as he leaned back against the counter, a little too casual. "Nothing. Just saying, you don’t go throwing free meals at every regular who walks by."
I felt a flush creep up my neck. “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t even be in the finals.”
Jesse scoffed under his breath, something that sounded a lot like, "We could’ve gotten through without him."
"What was that?"
Dodging the question, he straightened and gestured toward the crowd outside. "What if other regulars expect freebies?"
I rolled my eyes. "Relax. No one saw, and we’re about to close up anyway."
His jaw ticked, but he didn’t push further.
Ready to call it a day, I ignored him and grabbed the stack of receipts and tickets, setting them on the counter in front of me.
Sorting through them had become second nature, a ritual to wrap up the chaos of the day. The receipts were smudged with grease or ink that had bled under pressure, the tickets crumpled and stained.
I paused at one that seemed out of place.It wasn’t a receipt at all, but a scrap of paper, folded haphazardly and wedged between the others. I frowned, unfolding it slowly.
The scrawl was jagged, rushed.
You’re next, Beck.
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My mind raced, leaping to a hundred different conclusions, none of them good.
Who? How had this even gotten here?
I must’ve made a sound because Jesse appeared beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t trust my voice, so I held up the note instead.
His expression darkened instantly. “Where’d you find this?”
“In the receipts. It must’ve been handed to me earlier.” My voice came out uneven, and I hated how shaky I sounded.
Jesse didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he grabbed his phone and opened the app linked to the truck’s cameras.
His eyes flicked across the screen, his thumb swiping as he rewound the footage. I watched him closely, tension coiling in my chest.
