Two Outta Three (Two Outta Three #1) (13 page)

Chapter 17

Jesse and I watched Stephanie retreat back to the gym. Her blue dress swished behind her looking like a bundle of peacock feathers fluttering in the wind.

Resting his elbow on the bleacher behind my head, he leaned over and whispered, “Where do you think we’ll be when we grow up?”

His breath tickled my ear, causing me to shiver. Chuckling, he threw his arm over my shoulder. It was quite innocent and even playful, yet I’d like to pretend it was his way of telling me he loved me.

Feeling myself blush, I turned away before answering in a breathy tone, “I don’t know. Working, I guess?”

“As what?”

I took a deep breath and clasped my hands together. The long tips of my French manicured nails dug into the skin, bringing me back down to earth. “I’m going to be an artist, of course. I’m going to open up my own gallery and just be happy.”

From my periphery I could make out Jesse nodding. When I felt a slight movement at the bottom of my dress, I noticed him picking at the satin material. Was it wrong to wish he’d rip it off me?

“You always had a penchant for color,” he mused. “Did I tell you this is a really nice shade on you?”

“Just once,” I whispered. Taking slow breaths to steady my heart, I asked, “What about you? Where will you be? What will you be doing?”

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I just know I’ll be out of this town.”

My heart plummeted. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere without Jesse near me. My nose prickled as unjustified tears worked their way through me.

Jesse frowned. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah.” I pretended to scratch my nose and blinked quickly. “Oh you know, allergies.”

“Allergies,” he repeated with a slight grunt. He faced forward, but kept his eyes on me. “You trust me, right?”

“Of course I do,” I answered, never more confident of anything else in my life.

He nodded his head slowly. “I’ll get us out of here.”

I turned my head in alarm. Sure, Bethel Falls didn’t have too much going for it, but it was home. I couldn’t imagine leaving it. My frown deepening, I asked, “Why would I want to leave this place?”

“Really? You can actually ask me that?” He let out a puff of air from his nostrils and shook his head.

“I didn’t ask why you would leave. I was talking about me. My whole family is here. Why would I want to go?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Your aunts, uncles, cousins, and about eighteen grandparents.”

I elbowed him right where I’d imagine his nipple to be. “Be nice.”

“Don’t you want to see what else is out there?” His voice sounded so distant, as if he were already enjoying lands beyond our high school football field.

I shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so…”

“Imagining how great your paintings would be if you could actually see these places away from your computer screen.”

“I mean, of course I want to see the world. It’s scary, but it’s an exciting thought.” I nodded, not knowing how else to respond. My hair flopped back and forth, finally loosening from its bobby pin prison and falling around my shoulders.

“If I leave, you will too.” Jesse nodded his head in affirmation.

“You really think so?” There was no mistaking my disbelief.

He threw me my favorite lopsided grin. “I never break my promises. I’d never leave you behind.

***

“Have you seen Jesse around?” It was a question I asked about a hundred times that day. It was nearing eleven o’clock and there was still no sign of my friend. Though I knew we had left things kind of weird after our previous shift, I didn’t think it warranted a no show at work. At first I thought it odd that he didn’t show up early for his shift and even felt a bit angry about it. Now about a third of the way into our shifts, that anger turned into worry and fear.

When another one of my employees shook their head, I knew it was time to find him. Since I didn’t have his phone number, I decided to go through my dad’s files to get it. It wasn’t a breach of privacy to go through private files if I was technically the boss, right? Besides, this could be a life or death situation.

Instructing one of my cousins to man the register, I snuck into my dad’s office, which was located right beside The Dungeon. I gripped the cool metal of the master keys, shaking slightly as I placed the one marked with a red rubber top into the lock. I was tempted to make sure the coast was clear before I barged into the room, but figuring I’d look more suspicious doing so, I kept my chin raised and entered the office with a sense of authority. Of course that didn’t mean I wasn’t about to freak out once I got inside.

Slamming the door shut, I leaned against the cool wood and took a few deep breaths to calm down. My heartbeat was erratic, and though I knew I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I still felt as if I were breaking some rule by being in my parents’ office when they weren’t around. There is something about working for your parents that still makes you feel about twelve years old regardless of how old you are.

When I calmed down enough to see straight, I made it over to the huge oak desk, which was placed smack in the middle of the tiny room. The surface drowned in piles of paper, binders, and other office supplies. My parents always preferred being on the sales floor to being cooped up in the office. By the looks of the hoarder type mess, they sure hadn’t been inside for quite some time.

Grabbing the nearby chair, I plopped down and began wheeling myself to the nearest cabinet. Using my feet as oars, I slid across the room to an accompaniment of squeaking wheels and scuffed boots. There were three gigantic filing cabinets in front of me and one of them housed Jesse’s employee file. All I had to do was pick the correct one.

“Now, which could it be?” My eyes perused my choices before landing on a drawer that was ajar. There was a smudged fingerprint on the handle, which looked pretty fresh. Given that Jesse had just started working, I figured there was a good chance this drawer contained all his secrets.

“Open sesame,” I muttered, yanking it open.

As expected, my dad’s filing system wasn’t a system at all and looked more like an office supply store exploded inside. Figuring I needed to look for the cleanest, crispest manila folder, I kept my eyes peeled for anything that screamed ‘new.’ As luck would have it, I found it without even trying.

“Right on top,” I mumbled with a pop of the
p
.

Jesse Michael Tyler

I ran my fingertip over his name, which was scrawled on the label with a thick black marker. I didn’t know why I was so nervous to open up the thin file. It probably only held his W-9 and two forms of identification. It wasn’t as if it was his prison records—which I didn’t know if he had any or not—nor his permanent record. Still, somehow I felt that it held all the secrets he’d been holding from me.

Stupid, huh?

Taking one deep breath, I pried the thin stock open and glanced inside. To my relief, and minor disappointment, there was only the usual tax stuff inside.

I scanned the paper and found his phone number. Though I felt like a creeper stealing it this way, I knew I had no other choice. Quickly programming it into my phone, I slammed the folder shut and shoved it back into the drawer before the other employees wondered what I was up to. I jumped up and jogged to the door, taking one more glance around before I exited.

***

“Are you eating with us today?” Aunt Belle, who was actually my Uncle Samuel’s third wife, and a bit too young for him if you asked me, questioned as it neared time for our break. Her voice had that certain raspiness that would have made her a great rock star, but as luck would have it she was resigned to working for us…a fact she reminded us every single day.

I shook my head and smiled. “Not today.”

“Ah, Ethan coming back? You know it won’t be long until you’re the sister with a bun in the oven.” She winked mischievously, knowing all the dirty details of Emily’s infamous descent into “bad daughter” territory.

I rolled my eyes. “No, I got some calls to take care of. I’ll see you after lunch.”

“Calling those wedding vendors, right?”

Ignoring her, I threw on my winter coat and stepped out into the freezing weather. Though there were probably better places to do this, the privacy of my car seemed the most inviting. The blast of arctic air hit my face, feeling like a sledgehammer to my skin. Pulling my hood around my face, I blew air out of my mouth to test how cold it was. It was a habit I’d never grown out of from childhood and still felt a sheer amount of joy doing. There was just something fun about seeing the fog leave my mouth. Especially since it was the closest I’d ever get to smoking.

Shuddering, I ran towards my car and jumped inside, putting the heater on full blast. While I waited for my car to heat up, I peeled off my gloves and held my hands in front of the warm air vents. One by one, my fingers began to thaw out. It was a painful process and once it was done, I reached into my pocket and fished for the phone. “Here goes nothing.”

I swiped my phone on, going straight to favorites—yeah, I know. After one last thought of encouragement, I pressed Jesse’s name and leaned back into my seat. As each ring painfully passed, I couldn’t help but question myself.

Ring one:
Would he be mad I called?

Ring two:
Would he be mad I stole his number?

Ring three:
Would he even answer the fucking phone?

Finally, after the umpteenth ring, Jesse’s voice finally filled my ear. It wasn’t his voicemail intro, either.

“Hello?”

As soon as I heard his familiar baritone, my heart began doing cartwheels.

“Jesse!” I screeched. “Where are you?”

He took a moment to respond. “Is this Rocky?”

“Who else would it be?” I snapped, growing more irritated by the second. “Where are you? I was worried! You could have at least called in to tell us you were missing work.”

In a calculated tone he asked, “How’d you get this number?”

That’s when it hit me. He was never planning on sharing it with me.

I cleared my throat, pulling at the skin of my neck. “I’m your employer. I have it on file.”

“Your dad is my employer,” he replied in a flat tone.

“Jesse, let’s cut the crap. Where are you?”

“Why do you care?”

“Uh, because you were supposed to be here four hours ago!” I exclaimed. Why was he being so difficult?

“Is that all?”

“Huh?”

“Is that the only reason why you called me? Because I missed work?”

I was worried about you, dumbass.

“Yes, of course,” I lied.

I heard him sigh. I expected him to say something else, but the line remained silent. Listening intently, I could hear the muffled sounds of what sounded like a television in the background. “Where are you?”

“Rocky, I’m going to miss work today,” he abruptly cut me off.

“I see that.” I bit my lip and frowned. “Are you coming in tomorrow?”

He paused for a beat before replying. “You know what? I don’t think so.”

“Fuck, Jesse! What the hell is wrong with you? Is this about our fight yesterday?”

He grunted. “Everything has to be about you, right?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” I reached out and gripped my steering wheel as tightly as I could. Where was a stress ball when you needed one?

Jesse’s voice dropped as if somebody was listening to him. “You know what? I’ll tell you everything one day, but for now—”

“You’re not comfortable, I get it!” I snapped in ferocity.

“Goodbye, Rocky.”

“Jesse!”

Two tiny beeps announced that he had just hung up on me. I stared at my phone dumbly, wondering what the fuck just happened.

“Did Jesse really quit?” I gaped at the blank phone screen and shut my eyes in frustration. In the two short days my parents had been gone, I had not only sold penises, angered a long time customer, and broken into an office—I had also caused an employee to quit too. That stupid comments and complaints box my mother put at the front of the store would probably be filled with my name.

The combination of my parka and the car heater was starting to make me feel as if I were in a sauna. Yanking at my scarf, I shook my head. “Jesse didn’t quit. He’d be back tomorrow.”

***

“I think he’ll be back.” Stephanie winced as she said the words, an obvious tell that she was lying.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not. I can tell. You didn’t hear him.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing he’s not coming back.”

“What do you mean? How could Jesse leaving again be a good thing?” I demanded.