Page 4 of The One Who Got Away
He cleared his throat. “Kinda big. Sorry about that. Are you the only one here?”
“Nah. Jessie is in the back taking bread out of the ovens.”
He drew in a big breath. “I can smell it. It’s been a damn long time since I’ve had the Big Banger.”
“My personal fave. You want it on Why Don’t You Rye About it?”
He laughed. “You remembered.”
Of course I did.
I freaking remembered everything. Unlike him. He’d even forgotten my phone number. After I went away to Northeastern, the texts and phone calls had become further and further apart. Then we’d just seen each other during the holidays, until he’d started spending more and more time out of the country.
God, he looked good.
A little skinnier than I remembered, but working and sweating his butt of in the tropical climates might be the culprit. Even if something seemed a little off about him.
It had to be because I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
“Okay, let ‘er rip.” I held up my notepad.
In our typical short speak, he rattled off the sandwiches and specifics. It was like no time at all had gone by. His deep voice slid over me like my favorite hoodie.
Hishoodie.
That I still had and wore to bed some nights.
God, I was a sap. But in the small spaces of the night, sometimes I could still smell his foresty cologne in the hood.Like the rough nights when loneliness hit during a big deadline. Or since I’d been home.
I focused on the words on my pad until they stopped getting jumbled. “Okay, so we’ve got two The Petty Melts, one no onions. You Can’t Handle the Big C with provolone, two Big Bangers, one hold the pickles. A Tuna Monster with extra red pickled onions, the Eye-Talian extra prosciutto, and Balls! with extra sauce.”
He grinned. “No notes.”
The dimple popped in his left cheek and I tumbled back to junior year when that smile had melted me into the pavement. It had been the Homecoming game when we’d ended up cuddled up near the bonfire thanks to a cool October night.
The night I’d almost kissed him—then chickened out.
Get a grip, girl.
I smiled back. “I’ll get right on this.”
Jessie bustled in, fresh bags of sourdough, rye, and hard rolls in hand. Her inky dark hair was pulled back with a red bandana over her usual pinup style. She wore black jeans with Converse sneakers and jangled as she walked thanks to bracelets, necklaces and a stack of earrings curling around each ear. Big hoops hung through her gages with little skeletons dancing merrily from the bottoms. “Well, hey there Gus Murdock. I heard you were back in town.”
“Hiya, Jessie. Yeah, it’s been a minute. My brother has kept me busy since I got off the plane.”
“Sully, and that impressive six pack of his was a moment over the spring.”
I glanced between Jessie and Gus. “Guess I missed out on that one.”
“Oh, girl, these Murdock men are built super fine. If I liked men, I’d have jumped on Ripley at the very least.” She winked at Gus and took a look at my list. “Want help?”
“I got it.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’ll keep prepping. It still hot out there?” She switched her attention to Gus.
“Sweltering. I’m not sure my cooler will make it with the ice from this morning.”
“Well, I have a freezer with bags of ice if you need a refresher.”
