It’s the naked knitting guy.
“Predawn entertainment,” he says dryly. “You must be Grey.”
“You’re Theo.”
“And he usually uses the front door.” Sabrina hands him the package of treats I got for Jitter.
“You weren’t open yet,” Theo says.
“Scones take an hour.”
“I can wait.”
My eyelid is twitching.
She is not making scones just because he asked her to when she hasn’t made them for me in too many days.
“Simmer down,” Sabrina says to me as she reaches for her apron. “He has the recipe himself at home if he wants them that badly.”
“And she’ll charge me double just for being cheeky,” Theo agrees.
“Cheeky?” She grins at him. “Where’d you pull that word from?”
“Laney’s making me read the dictionary.”
“You’re already to C?”
“I got bored and flipped to random pages.”
“I’m sure she’ll be shocked to hear that.”
“Completely flabbergasted.”
“You really have been jumping around.”
My jaw clenches.
Logically, I know this is old friends giving each other shit for fun.
Emotionally, I want to tear him limb from limb every time she smiles at him.
And he’s smirking at me like he knows it.
“You ever had kombucha?” Sabrina asks him.
“Better question is if I’ve ever had kombucha when I knew what I was drinking.”
And now he’s the fun one too.
Petting Sabrina’s dog.
Making her laugh and roll her eyes.
They belong here.
They fit here.
And the only thing I came here for is revenge.
Belonging?
That’s not for me.
26
Sabrina
For the second night in a row, Jitter and I join Emma, Laney, and Theo at Silver Horn.
The snow’s still falling. The roads are awful. But so few people are out that this place is practically empty. And since Alina and Jerry, the owners, live upstairs, it didn’t take much to convince them to open for us.
It’s a great chance for Emma to get out of hiding again.
And for me to spend time with friends in a place that Grey can’t reach.
“Is he awful?” Emma asks me as we’re diving into a charcuterie board.
“Who?”
“Your new boss.”
“Not when he’s making googly eyes at her,” Theo says.
And yes, Jitter’s sitting on Theo’s lap again despite my orders to both of them to get the dog on the floor.
“He’s complicated,” Laney supplies.
The two of them are far less lovey-dovey tonight than they’ve been any other time I’ve seen them since we got back, and I’m positive it’s for Emma’s sake.
I’m also positive she knows it.
“Complicated how?” Em asks.
Laney looks at Theo.
Theo looks at me.
My brain does a quick sort of what’s the least painful thing to tell her, and she frowns.
“Don’t sugarcoat it,” she says. “Please don’t sugarcoat it. I’m sad, not weak.”
“He’s a very nice person who wants to convert the building into a kombucha bar.”
“No. Sabrina. Oh, no. Are you okay?”
“I’m working on finding an alternate solution for him so that we can all get what we want. No luck so far, but I did a thing that arrives tomorrow that might change his mind. I hope. Or he’ll fire me on the spot. Time will tell.”
“Has he ever been here before? To town?”
I shake my head and grab a bite of cheese.
“Tiara Falls would probably go crazy for a kombucha bar. Why not use that Bean & Nugget location?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Do I have to answer that?”
“Chandler fucked him over,” Theo says. “This is revenge.”
“He’s commissioning a giant fiberglass bee to hang on the side of the building,” Laney adds quietly.
I peek one eye open to watch Emma’s reaction.
And it’s not good.
Quick blinks. Looking down at her ginger ale. A heavy sigh. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You are not talking to Chandler,” Theo growls.
She sets her jaw, which isn’t like Emma at all, but it’s not wrong. “I’ll do whatever I damn well need to get over what he did and move on.” She slides a look at me. “I meant I’ll talk to your new boss. He might listen to someone else who’s been screwed by the same guy.” She winces, and her slender shoulders droop. “Or he might think I’m just as much a part of the problem.”
“You don’t have to—” I start, only to get cut off by my dog woofing and leaping to his feet.
Yes, while he’s still in Theo’s lap.
Theo’s eyes go wide, and he curls into himself, covering the family jewels.
Laney gasps in horror.
Emma does too.
I squeak, unable to make any other noise.
“Missed,” Theo chokes out.
“Are you sure?” Laney’s voice is high-pitched.
So is Theo’s. “Panicked. That was close. But sure.”
“Jitter,” I finally force out. “Down. No barking. You know better.”
He whines and looks at the door, peering over the couch. Not hard for a dog of his size even if he were on the floor, but he has his back paws on the cushion and his front paws on the back of the couch. He’s taller than I am that way.
But my dog’s size is not a problem.
Not like what he’s staring at.
“Oh, fuck me,” I mutter.
Theo turns around.
Laney tries and mostly just oomphs around her cast.
Emma makes a strangled noise and leans closer to me. “Is that him? Is that your new boss?”
“Who gave him the password?” I hiss.
“I heard he dropped a five-hundred-dollar tip for Blossom at the pub the other night,” Laney whispers, making my shoulders bunch higher. Why didn’t I hear this before? “I think she caved.”
“It’s me,” Zen says, peeking out from behind Grey to make eye contact with me like they know exactly what I’m whispering over here. “Nobody can resist this face. I talked the password out of your mom when she gave me a haircut this afternoon.”
They’re in suit pants, a black-and-white button-down, and a trench coat, and it’s so Zen I nearly forgive them for bringing Grey just because they look so fabulous.
Grey, on the other hand, is in dark jeans and a plain blue button-down. His dark beard is getting thick, and without the beanie he usually wears everywhere, I can tell Mom did a fabulous job with his haircut too.
Also, she and I are having a serious talk about telling me when she sees my biggest problem.
Zen’s smile drops as their gaze shifts to Emma.
Emma tenses.
Zen’s chin wobbles. They blink quickly, then poke Grey and mutter something I can’t hear. He frowns at them.
Not a disapproving frown.
A worried frown.
Zen pokes him again and glares, and he lifts his hands in surrender, then heads to the bar.
Jitter leaps over the couch to join him.
And in the time it takes Laney to whisper, “What was that? What was all of that?”, Zen has beelined the short distance from the door to our lounging area.
They squat in front of Emma. “I want to hug you so bad. I know what it’s like to spend years trying to make people love you when they’re physically incapable of it.”
Em sucks in a breath.
And Zen scoots back. “Sorry. I just—you got fucked. I hate when people with good hearts get fucked so big, and I don’t know you, but everyone here loves you, and I like them, so you must be a good person. I’ll quit being a weirdo. Your drinks are on us. My uncle, I mean. He knows what it’s like to get fucked too.”
“Emma, this is Zen,” I say softly. “They’re my new boss’s keeper, and they do a fabulous job despite the hardships of the job.”
Em holds out a hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Zen.”
“I went viral on my campus in college when someone recorded me singing in the shower,” Zen blurts while they shake Emma’s hand.
Grey’s head whips around like he hasn’t heard this story and he’s ready to put on his Super Vengeance Man suit and go take care of whoever hurt Zen in college too.
“Simmer down,” Zen says over their shoulder, clearly knowing what’s going on behind them. “I took care of it.”
“How?” Grey asks. He pockets his wallet and approaches our group with far more wariness than Zen had.
“That’s filed under you don’t need to know,” they reply.
“Sit,” Emma says. “Please. Join us. Are you hungry? We have plenty of food.”
Grey eyes Theo.