Page 13 of Bad Seed
“Is that so? Then why were you wearing a shirt with Bass Pro on it in the bar?”
“You remembered?” I gasp like he’s brought me my favorite flowers for my birthday.
He shrugs. “I’m good at noticing things.”
“Well, I’m a food stylist, but I work at Bass Pro to pay the bills. Double majored in photography and business, and I don’t use either for that 401K. Still paying for those degrees though. How about you?”
“What about me?” He’s searching again, staring through the crowd as if he knows someone out there. Maybe a colleague brought him here. That’d made sense. Moving for a job.
“What do you do? For a living? Or to live? Very different things.”
“I suppose so.” Aubry nods like I shared some sage wisdom, then he slumps back onto the bench. “I was a…bouncer. In Vegas.”
“Really?” So he’s hot, single, and as poor as me. Two out of three is just fine. “That must have been exciting.”
“Far too much. Right now I’m…between jobs. Just seeing what’s—” He inches forward, rocking the bucket. But Aubry slaps a hand to the beam above and steadies us as he gazes out at something.
I try to see what he’s looking at, but all I can make out are tiny faces. Most of them are in purple or white wearing their trademark Loomis eggplant shirts. Though there’s one in a bright red. Probably forgot what day it is.
“Out there.” Aubry releases his hold, causing us to rock back. Whatever spell kept him from noticing the height breaks and he scrunches closer to me. We swing up, both of us staring at the humble bars below our feet that are keeping us in the air. One missing nut and it could all come crashing down.
An arm drapes over my shoulder. I don’t realize he’s pulling me closer until I turn my head. His face is an inch or two from mine. Smiling.
“You look really nice,” he says and my world explodes.
This is it. Kiss him!
“I…uh.” The avalanche of words that are always at my beck and call becomes a trickle. Who the hell do I think I am kissing someone like that? He could benchpress a grizzly bear, and I’ve got bacon bits stuck in my bra.
“I think you’re nice too.”
I’m a coward. No other way to say it. Chicken shit. Broken, I slump back and twist to stare out at the view. It sure is pretty and…oh, damn it. It’s come to a stop.
We awkwardly hang in the air waiting for people to disembark. Aubry’s no longer staring at me, his attention once again snagged elsewhere.
I pick at my nails to keep from talking. He’s a nice guy, obviously. Not that kind of ‘nice guy.’ A real one who saves people who forget eggplant is in baba ganoush. Or that their friends don’t order hummus.
“I feel like I owe you.”
“Hmm?”
The first words I’ve said since I rebuffed him cause Aubry to focus on me. “For saving me. My life. Like, people always get huge things for that on the news. Cars. Businesses. Big checks. But I don’t have any of those.”
“It’s fine,” he says, trying to shake me off.
I can’t let this go. I owe him, and it’s chewing on my brain like another dentist appointment I missed. “Dinner.”
It’s perfect!I spin in my seat as we lower to the next place in line. “Why don’t I buy you dinner? As thanks.”
“That’s not necessary.”
I can shower, primp, and psych myself up to at least kiss him. “Of course, it is. At least to pay you back for the Epipen. Those aren’t cheap.”
“I’m not sure if—”
We lower to the bottom, and the worker wrenches open the door. “All right, lovers.”
Aubry is the first out, causing the man to skitter away. But as I slip past, the worker slides in behind like he’s about to close the door.
