Page 19 of The One Who Got Away
“K-i-s-s-i-n-g.” Jessie said on her way by then bumped me out of the way.
“Wrong Murdock.”
“See. I knew it.”
I groaned. “Shut up. There’s no kissing.”
Okay, so there was one kiss. It was more like one of those butterfly kisses I read about in books. The almost kisses that were more of a tease of something more.
I tipped my head back with a strangled groan and ducked into the back for a big gulp of my water. I’d been reliving that kiss for days now. Three very long days where I’d only gotten a morning and a night text from Gus.
Sometimes, like today, it came with a photo.
Gus:
Morning. Saw this and thought of you.
And it was a photo of the sunrise over the houses where he was working.
I’d immediately sketched them with my iPad for the storyboard I was working on for a game. I didn’t have anything else to do in the long nights that was for sure. Story Brook Valley had been an idea I’d had for ages. I was usually too exhausted after working at Everest Games to work on my own code, but I always had my iPad handy.
The bright scenes made me happy at the very least. But I had dozens of them. Enough to start coding them into a workable world. It wasn’t a fast paced first person shooter style game, this was made for hours of lazy play. To go on adventures and build a cozy town from the ground up.
I hadn’t told him about the game.
I hadn’t told anyone. I knew indie game designers were everywhere these days, but it had been safer to work for a company. They had the money and the resources to work out the bugs of an intense code. But I’d learned a lot from my time in the corporate space and maybe...
I shook my head and went back to prepping for the last rush that would start around dinner. People stopped in after work to pick up easy dinners especially since the heat of summer still wouldn’t let up even at the end of September.
I cut tomatoes on the slicer and filled the lettuce bin, bringing both back out to the counter. Jessie had taken care of the last of the mini-rush and was cleaning up.
“Oh, thanks. I was about to go do that.”
“No problem.” I tucked them into their slots in the large stainless-steel grid and closed the lid.
“So, what’s got you restless, El?”
“I’m just...”
“Thinking about a certain beardy boy?”
Uncertainty buzzed under my breastbone.
“C’mon, kid. Just spill.”
I looked around, but there was no customer to save me this time. “He kissed me the other night then my mother interrupted. I’m not sure if it would have gone any further. But he kissed me. I’m so confused.”
“The guy has had the hots for you for years. How do you not know this?”
I frowned. “He friend zoned me ages ago.Hard.”
She shrugged. “That was then, I guess.”
“But why would he do that now?”
“Who knows with guys. That’s why I switched teams long ago, baby doll. Not that women are any easier to be sure, but at least I generally understand them.”
I laughed. “Maybe it was just the wine.”
