Page 4 of Off Limits

“Yeah, it’s been great having her. You good in here? I’m going to head out to the floor.” Defeat weighs heavily in my chest and the room becomes more and more stifling by the second.

“Sure, sweetie, go ahead.” It’s not lost on me that my mom hasn’t looked at me once.

I wander out to the floor to find Chelsea straightening up a few stacks of towels, grumbling to herself.

“Hey, Chels, something wrong?”

I catch the perfected Chelsea eye roll. “No, just another customer who decided they wanted to see exactly how big the towels are and proceeded to unfold about seven different ones, just in case each color was sized differently. And then…bought none.” It’s an alarmingly frequent incident.

I stifle a laugh. “I’m sorry. Can I help?”

She puffs some pin straight white-blonde hair out of her face. “No, I’m done.”

“Okay. Do you mind if I join you guys for dinner tonight?” While it’s basically an every night occurrence, I still like to ask. My parents put a lot of work into my manners.

“Sure! It’s just me and Loch, anyway. My parents left today for who knows where. They’ll be gone for a few weeks. Loch said something about a party or two, I don’t know.”

When Chelsea and I were fourteen, their parents started leaving them with a sitter for several days at a time to travel. Once Lochlyn turned eighteen, their parents had started leaving them alone for overnights, which quickly turned to a week at a time, asking my parents to check in on them. It slowed once my dad got sick and Lochlyn was at school, but when he’s home for summer and breaks, they spend the majority of their time traveling.

“Oh, that sounds fine.” Though the idea of a party sounds awful, I had told Lochlyn maybe I’d try one or two.

“Just come over when we leave. We’ll all go together. Your mom would be cool if I left my car, right? At least for a few hours?”

“Yeah, I don’t think she’d mind. I wouldn’t suggest leaving it overnight, though.”

“Loch and I can come back and get it after dinner. Go tell him you’re coming, so we order enough pizza.” This is such a Chelsea thing to do. She’ll never ask Mom, leaving it to me to ask or be the bad guy. And then not asking Lochlyn, just assuming he’ll be okay with getting it later on.

“I don’t eat that much, Chels.” I cross my arms against my chest at her suggestion.

“No, but he does.”

It’s true. I’ve seen him eat an entire pizza by himself. I don’t understand how he’s still in such amazing shape when he can eat the way he does.He’s your best friend’s brother. Nothing can happen.

“Sure. He still in the back?”

She turns back to the towels, angrily refolding one and smacking it on the top of the pile. “As far as I know, I haven’t seen him on the floor.”

When I get into the stockroom, I don’t see Lochlyn. “Loch?” My voice echoes off the walls. It’s a huge room, with shelves and boxes everywhere.

He pokes his head around one of the shelving units, a smile breaking across his face when he sees me, making my heart skip a beat. “Oh, hey.” The words come out breathless, and it's just another reminder of how hard he's working back here. For free.

“Hey. Chels wanted me to let you know that I’m joining you guys for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, okay, good. What do you like on your pizza?” Resting his elbow on a shelf above him causes his shirt to ride up the slightest bit, and my mouth feels parched as I try not to stare at the hard lines and angles.

“I’m not picky.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You most certainly are.”

I sigh. He’s right. I’m pretty picky. With food and boys. “I don’t want to be a bother. Just get whatever you guys want and if I don’t like it, I’ll pick it off.”

“You’re not a bother. If you want something specific, let me know. Otherwise, we’ll get one with just cheese.”

“Just cheese is fine.” I lean my back against the wall, the cool brick a welcome shock to my system, cooling me from the outside in and dousing the fire burning inside for the man in front of me.

“Shay. Come on.”

“Alright. I like peppers and onions.” Though I’ve known Lochlyn almost my whole life, these moments of being open and honest aren’t common. He was there for me after Dad died, and I let my walls down then, but I don’t need to be a burden on him when he already has Chelsea to deal with, who’s no picnic. Something as simple as pizza is no biggie to me.

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