Page 76 of Late Fees

The normally chill Emmett snapped his head back. “I don’t care. I told you to take it off the sales floor.”

“Fine,” Kevin said, walking past me to the back room.

I looked to Emmett. “I’m sorry,” I said softly, following Kevin to the back.

“What’s going on? What happened up here?” I could hear Emmett ask Marley as I walked out of earshot.

When I entered the back room, Kevin was nowhere to be found. Then I heard a locker slam, and I saw him. His cheeks were as red as a fire engine, and he threw two dollars at me. “Here, that should cover the Slurpee.”

I looked down at the dollar bills at my feet. “It’s not about the Slurpee, asshole!”

“I thought we were something,” he said, his lungs heaving.

“What?”

“You and me. Who is this guy?”

“He’s my ex,” I said matter-of-factly. “And no, you and I don’t have anything. Not anymore.”

He placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head slowly back and forth. “Since when?”

“Since now. You’re acting like a jealous prick, and that’s really unattractive…if you didn’t know that.”

“Seems convenient,” he said, reaching down to grab the cash from the floor, shoving it in his front pocket. “Enjoy your melted Slurpee. Careful not to choke on it.”

“Screw you,” I said, shaking my head. “You know…I wanted to be your friend.”

“My friend? Fuck that. I don’t want to be your friend, Tilly. I never have.”

“That’s obvious now. Someone comes in to see me and you throw a temper tantrum like a three-year-old. Very nice.”

“Whatever,” he said, walking past me. “Don’t talk to me.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Kevin. We went on a couple of dates. We had coffee, and we saw a movie. And guess what—it didn’t work out. The end.”

He turned around to face me, his eyes boring into mine. “Yeah, guess so.”

I didn’t follow him back to the desk. Instead, I took a seat at the table, willing my brain to sort through all the different emotions inside of me that were clamoring for priority. My heart was caught up in the thoughtfulness of Wyatt and his gesture, realizing that it was the day after spring ahead—the day we walked for hours and watched the sunset on a bench in the park. A day that strengthened us as a couple. A day that I’d tried so hard to forget.

But my brain was at war with my heart. My brain was furious at Kevin and a little bit angry with Wyatt for messing with my already injured heart. It was hard to reconcile the wonderful emotions with the conflicting thoughts that coursed through every synapse of my brain.

All I knew was that Wyatt was trying. And part of me was thrilled about that.

I also knew that Kevin and I would most likely be enemies from here on out. As much as it sucked, I knew there were plenty of people at the store, and I didn’t need him in any way.

Still, I planned on seeing if I could trade some shifts to avoid being on the schedule with Kevin.

I may be resilient, but I’m not a masochist.

“I can’t believe we’re back here again,” I said to Veronica as we lingered on Doug Burkowski’s patio on the first Saturday night of spring break. Veronica was taking a drag from a cigarette and leaning against the siding as the music boomed inside, and partygoers came in and out of the house.

“When did you start that?” I asked.

Veronica put the cigarette out on the bottom of her Birkenstock sandals. “I don’t know, a few months ago? It was either this or gain fifteen pounds, so…you know.”

“Isn’t it messing with your lungs, you know, when you’re on the field?”

“Season’s over.” She shrugged, clearing her throat.

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