Page 8 of Dare To Kiss You
“You promised me dinner.” He pouts like a child, instead of a grown-ass man.
“You sound like I’m taking you on a date, instead of this being you tagging along on my errands,” I fire back.
“If it was a date, I’d be the best date you’ve had in a long time, buddy.”
I grimace. Because he’s right.
“When was the last time you were with a woman, anyway?” He noisily slurps the iced coffee he bought on the way here.
“Okay, Ash, I get it. I have no life. Thanks.” I turn into the sporting goods store where I want to shop for some new runners. The shoes I’ve been wearing to the gym are getting pretty trashed, and it’s time for a new pair.
We reach the wall of shoes, and there are so many people around, it almost feels claustrophobic. Asher’s right again, this is the worst time of year to be shopping. Thankfully, I find the brand and style I like, grab the sample, and then start looking for someone to help find my size. Glancing down at Asher, who’s thumbing through something on his phone, I say, “You could help, you know. If we can find a salesperson, we can be done here.”
“Then we get dinner?” Asher looks up at me skeptically. You’d never know the guy is some tech genius worth a ridiculous amount of money. Instead, he looks — and acts — like a teenage slacker with his oversized hoodie and ridiculous attitude.
“Yeah, yeah. Then we can go for dinner.”
He pushes himself to stand and wanders off, hopefully in search of someone to help get my shoes. I look around again, but everyone wearing the distinctive red uniform of store staff is busy. Then my eyes land on a familiar head of shiny brown hair. I drop down onto the bench as soon as I realize Kat’s here with Sawyer.
Of all her brothers, he’s the one I worry about the most when it comes to someone finding out how I feel about Kat. He’s the most vocal about his opinions on no one in town being good enough for her, and he’s even louder about it ever since she broke up with the long-distance dude.
Or as I call him in my head, the dumbass who cheated on her.
That blew my mind when I heard Leo mention it at work one day. That idiot had the most amazing woman in the world, she was his, and he fucked around?
Damn fool.
Asher chooses that moment to come back, thankfully, with a girl who, judging by the uniform and the harried look on her face, has been working hard all day.
“Here you go, dude. Get your shoes and let’s get outta here.”
I shoot him a glare, then turn to the girl. “Sorry about him. Can I please get these in a size twelve?”
She snaps her gum at me but takes the shoes without a word and disappears behind the wall of shoes, hopefully to find my size.
“Hey, isn’t that Kat Donnelly?” Asher asks way too loudly.
I grab his arm and yank him down beside me, my face burning. “Shut the fuck up,” I hiss. “Yes, that’s her, and that’s her brother. So, sit down.”
“Is it the firefighter or the accountant? Because we could take the accountant, but the firefighter, no thanks, man. I’m out.” Asher cranes his neck to the side. “That looks like the firefighter. He’s built.”
“I seriously need to stop telling you everything,” I groan quietly. This wouldn’t be the first time Asher’s motormouth and lack of tact got us into trouble. Stealing a glance to the side, I inwardly sigh in relief when I don’t see Kat and Sawyer anymore. “They’re gone.”
“So, you don’t want to see her?” Asher asks and I stare at him for a second before he lifts his hands in surrender.
“I don’t want to deal with her brother. That’s all.”
The salesperson returns with a box of shoes in hand. She gives them to me, and after opening them and double-checking sizes, I flash her a grateful smile.
“Let’s go, Ash,” I mutter to my friend. We make our way up to the checkout, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit my eyes are darting around looking for Kat.Like a masochistic idiot.I really don’t want to face her brother, but I can’t help it — I reallydowant to see her.
Hell, I always want to see her.
But there’s no sign of either Donnelly as I pay, and Asher and I leave the store.
At the other end of the mall is a bar and grill that’s part of a nationwide chain. The food is just okay, but they do at least carry local beers on tap, so that’s where we head next.
But we don’t get far before I hear a familiar voice. Just not the voice I actually wanted to hear.
