Page 23 of The Trolley Kiss
I lean back but lift my face to match his stare, raising my voice to match his level. “Did you miss the part where I said you SMOOSH the marshmallow?”
He tries to hold back his laugh but is one hundred percent unsuccessful at it. The sound of his laugh does something to me. It makes me feel emotions that are out of my control. I can’t hold back my own smile. Fuck, I love when he’s happy.
He shakes his head at me. “How about you get a package of both and whatever junk you want? I’m going to the liquor aisle to get some of the good stuff. Promise that you’ll keep that a secret and I’ll share with you later.”
“Deal,” I smirk. “Meet you at the checkout.”
I leave the baking aisle and head over to the chips and cracker aisle. I add a variety of types of snacks so everyone will have something they like. And since Declan is paying and all.
I’m not a total ass, so I step closer to read which brand of chips has the best sale right now. I hear cart wheels behind me before his voice. That voice I longed to hear so many nights. That voice that brings me nothing but sadness when I replay his old messages.
“Addy?”
I squeeze the handle of my cart until my knuckles turn white before gathering enough strength to turn around. There he is, standing right in front of me. The wind is knocked out of me. My heart aches in a way I’ve never experienced before. I want to hate him. I need to hate him.
“Chris,” I manage to croak out.
“It’s good to see you,” he practically whispers like he’s uneasy about how I’ll react to seeing him.
I don’t know what to say, so I give a small smile instead of responding. He shuffles his feet a little. “You have the day off?”
“What?”
“It’s the middle of the day and all.”
“Oh, uh… I’m on lunch.”
“Ah,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “So I guess you can’t catch up then?”
I’m not sure if he’s just saying that to be friendly or if he actually wants to catch up. I don’t know how to feel about either option. I don’t have time to think about it.
Fingers press against my lower back. It should have startled me, but it didn’t. There was something familiar in the touch. Something warm and comforting. A calmness falls over me.
I turn to my left as Declan wraps his arm around me further, pulling me up against him and setting the expensive as fuck alcohol in the cart. “Ready babe?”
I look right into his eyes. All I find is safety there. He can tell I’m grateful and nods his head at me like just go with it. Go ahead and tell this fucker whatever I want to, and he’ll go along with it.
I turn back to Chris, and his face has hardened. I give an awkward smile to both men. “Uhm… Deck, this is Chris. Chris, Declan.”
Declan extends his left hand to shake Chris’ hand, so he doesn’t have to release me from his hold. “Pleasure,” he says, but I can hear the venom in his voice. I can only imagine how hard he’s squeezing Chris’ hand.
Again, it’s like a blanket of calm falls over me. For once, I don’t have to rely on myself to handle this situation. I don’t have to be strong for myself. I can finally breathe.
Instinctively, I reach across and run my fingers along his abs. The moment my fingers make contact, he looks down at me, and a hint of a smile appears on his face. My heart rate speeds up. For the first time in the longest time, I wish Chris was just gone. I wish he could disappear, and I could be alone with Declan.
It’s like this fog I’ve been living in lifts for a moment, and I finally have the strength to say no to Chris. For the first time, I’m able to say no to him.
“We have to get back. Good seeing you,” I repeat the same words back to him. I don’t wait for a response as I walk out of the aisle toward the checkout as fast as possible without being obvious. Declan stays by my side the whole time.
As soon as we’re out of earshot, he leans his head down closer to me. “Are you okay?” he asks with no judgment.
“Yeah,” I say back, pulling the groceries out of the cart and placing them on the belt.
The lady in front of us has a ton of groceries, so we have too much time alone to not say anything. I settle on, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
He shrugs it off like it was no big deal. “Well, from what I know of that fucker, he’s dumb enough to think I’m Mack if he sees you guys dating in the future. It’s what my brother would have wanted me to do.”
“Is that so?” I ask as I continue to unload the copious amounts of snacks onto the belt. “You change your mind about me never being allowed to date him?” I tease.