Page 14 of Fox
Balancingthe absurdly large box of donuts, my iced decaf coffee, my bags, and the packages delivered to the back door that the guys apparently decided not to grab, I kick the door several times with my heel before Atlas opens it.
“Hey, Red, what’s cracking?” Is he serious? Does he not see me balancing everything?
“Help me, you ass!” I growl when he stands in front of me, just… staring. “My god! Did your mother not teach you manners? You help a lady struggling!” Atlas takes the package and donuts while holding the door open for me to walk through.
“My mom taught me that women should be equal to men. If Fox were carrying all that in here, I wouldn’t help him either. See? Equality. I’m basically a feminist.” He beams at me, and I roll my eyes.
“Spell feminist.” Atlas frowns at my comment. I drop my purse before walking into the tattooing area to see Fox sitting over his table sketching.
“That’s rude!” Atlas scoffs and looks around as if I just slapped him. “I don’t get paid to spell, Red. I’m an artist.” My face falls and I notice Fox shaking from silent laughter out of the corner of my eye.
“You’re a freaking tattoo artist!” I yell in disbelief. “Half the shit you do is lettering!” Atlas shrugs.
“I use spell check, and then the client approves it.” I shake my head in disbelief at the man.
“Okay, so I’m only recommending Derek and Ash to customers then.” My response pulls a huff out of Fox as he leans back in his chair to look at me before speaking.
“And what about me? I know how to spell.” Arching my brow, I am about to deliver back an insult—you know, something about Neanderthals and whatnot, but the drawing he is working on catches my eye, and I’m momentarily silenced.
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” I whisper while staring at the portrait of the 1950s pin-up-looking woman.
Fox chuckles. “Careful, Torch, you’re getting real close to a compliment there.” Shaking my head, I let the banter go… for now. After all, I need to talk to them, and I would rather everyone be in a pleasant mood. So, I give him a small smile before dropping the donut bag on his lap. I then snatch the box from Atlas’ hands, who has already stuffed two donuts in his cheeks like a hamster.
“Atlas, you eat all my donuts and watch what I do to you,” I warn.
Atlas waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Red.”
“What’s this?” Fox inquires, his voice holding a crisp forcefulness, and his heated stare rests firmly on Atlas. I wonder what that look is about? Are they fighting?
Fox opens the bag and pulls out the donut, and I’m suddenly very aware of the increase in my hand tremors. Why on earth do I care if he likes the donut?
“Um—” I tuck a curl behind my ear, only to have it go right back where it previously was. “I know the other day you wanted Reese’s cups, and the corner store was out, and umm, I saw it at the donut shop. If you don’t want it, I’m sure Atlas will—”
“Oh, fuck yes!” Atlas yells excitedly, and at the same time, Fox barks out a “No!”
Fox’s gaze lands on mine, and I feel like a deer caught in headlights. Then, oh my god, he’s smiling at me. He never smiles at me and fuck… Enemies or not, I can appreciate that panty-dropper smile. I rub my hands on the front of my leggings. My palms are so damn sweaty.
“Thank you, Janie. This is really nice.” His voice holds no sarcasm or animosity, just genuine happiness, and I feel this odd sense of satisfaction. Wait, Ilikeit when he’s happy with me? No, no… it’s just the period hormones.
“I hope it’s good. I mean, I’m sure it’s good; that’s dumb. But the girl at the bakery said it’s a shop favorite.”Jesus, Janie, stop rambling.“So, I’m not feeling the greatest today. I plan on being in the back, working for most of it, but once the guys are here, I want to go over a few things with you all.” Despite the whines from Atlas, I take the donut box with me to the break room and sit on the couch, trying to ignore the weird pounding in my chest while I go over the papers again.
I start thumbing through the pages when my phone wakes up, and I see it’s an alert that Brody posted something.
I tap the screen and frown at the image that pops up. It’s of Brody, sandwiched between two girls. I look at his glazed eyes and shake my head before tossing my phone on the couch. I know that as his girlfriend, seeing that photo should fill me with anger, but I feel… I don’t know, annoyed, maybe? I’m annoyedthat it’s not even noon, and he’s high and probably doing body shots off those girls. He should be out there marketing himself, figuring out his passion, and trying to get a contract with a company to get him security.
Wow, Janie, way to sound just like your dad.
Shaking my head, I take a breath before grabbing the folder and looking it over again.
“Okay,”I say while sitting what’s left of the donuts down on Atlas’ station, ignoring his noises of delight. I hand the black folder from under my arm to Fox, while trying to calm my nerves. It’s pointless, though, and I know why. I can still hear Fox and Atlas with Frank when they were laughing about me. I can hear them talking about how I would destroy the shop, and I’m scared that they will still think that. That Fox will look at me and tell me the idea is asinine, or worse, that the concept actuallyisasinine, and their words are all true.
“Listen, I know how you guys feel about me, and I know how you feel about my social media job.” Choosing to ignore the snorts and chuckles at the mention of the wordjob, I continue. “But one thing you can’t deny is I know how to market. I know how to take something and make it big. So, I thought maybe I could start running a social media account for the shop, showcasing you guys and your work.”
“We already put our portfolios online,” Atlas says as he looks over Fox’s shoulder at the folder I previously handed him. My heart does a weird flip-flop as Fox reaches into his station drawer and pulls out his black-rimmed glasses. He slides themonto his face and pulls his long hair back as his brows furrow together in concentration.
Ah! Stop it!
I blink several times to snap out of my trance because I absolutely do notfind Fox fucking Simmons putting on glasses to read my papers, sweet or enduring in any way.
