Chapter 4

CHAPTER4

“He’s glaring at you again,” Sean said on a heartfelt sigh, sounding pleased.

“And she looks like she wants to kill you,” Cayley said with a pointed look across the diner where her cousin, Jess, stood, looking as though it was taking everything that she had not to walk across the room and beat the crap out of Sean.

It probably was, Cayley mused as Sean popped one of her fries in his mouth as he glanced over his shoulder and-

Winked.

Oh, that dumb bastard, Cayley thought with a sad shake of her head as Jess made her move, grabbing a chair only to have several bus boys jump over the counter and grab her before she could follow through with any of the threats that she’d made over the years.

“Probably,” Sean said, not sounding all that concerned as they were forced to wrestle the chair out of Jess’s grip as she snapped, “I’m not going to hurt him. Just let me kill the little bastard!”

“She’s going to kill you one day,” Cayley said, still wondering why Sean seemed to go out of his way to piss her cousin off.

“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Sean asked, shifting his attention back to his food and-

“He’s still glaring at you,” he said, reaching over to steal her fries.

“Of course, he is,” Cayley said, sighing heavily as she found herself once again wondering why Bryce hated her so much. She considered asking Sean, but…

She knew better.

He would take the opportunity to make her life a living hell, and honestly, she just didn’t have the patience to deal with his bullshit right now. Between ending things with Kevin and being forced to start over, she…suddenly had a bad feeling that she knew why she’d been fired. Really hoping that she was wrong, Cayley looked at her best friend as she said, “Please tell me that you didn’t sleep with my boss.”

The look of disgust that took over his face had her quickly amending her last statement. “Not your sister, you weirdo. My last boss, who for some reason called me at one in the morning sobbing hysterically and rambling on incoherently about her desk and the fact that it would never be the same before she fired me.”

Blinking at her, Sean said, “Don’t slut shame me.”

Nodding, Cayley said, “There is something seriously wrong with you.”

“You hated that job,” he said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.

“So, you slept with my boss?” Cayley asked, shaking her head in disgust as she found herself once again wondering why she’d put up with him for so long.

“I like to be helpful,” Sean said, shrugging it off as he stole another fry.

“By sleeping with my boss?” Cayley asked even as she had to admit that she wasn’t exactly mad about losing that job. Granted, she would have preferred leaving on her own terms, but at least now she had a job that didn’t destroy her will to live. That was something, Cayley thought as she glanced at the flyer announcing Strawberry Manor’s third annual Christmas Eve party to raise money to build a new children’s medical center that someone left on their table and-

“Not happening,” Sean said, making her frown.

“I didn’t even say anything,” Cayley said as she looked up and sighed when she realized that at some point in the last thirty seconds that he stole her burger.

“You didn’t have to. I know that look,” Sean said, reaching over to pull her plate closer.

“What look? All I did was look at a flyer and-”

“No,” Sean said with a firm shake of his head as he popped one of her fries in his mouth and washed it down with her milkshake.

“But I-”

“I’m not going,” he said, making her frown.

“I don’t remember inviting you,” Cayley pointed out.

“Good because I’m not going,” Sean said while Cayley bit back a sigh as she glanced back down at the flyer and found herself worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she read it over. She didn’t get a chance to go last year because Kevin refused to go, but-

“And you’re not going, either,” Sean announced, making her frown as she glanced back up to find him watching her with a pitying look that was going to get him kicked.

“Since when do I need your permission to do anything?” Cayley found herself asking as she debated kicking him now or waiting until they were outside so that she could shove him into a snowbank.

“You don’t, but I’m not going,” Sean said firmly as he leaned back in his chair.

“I didn’t say that I was going,” Cayley said, glancing back down at the flyer even as she had to admit that it did look like fun.

“Good. Then, we don’t have a problem,” Sean said as Cayley found herself worrying her bottom lip between her teeth again, more than a little tempted to buy a ticket.

“I could go by myself,” she said, glancing up to find him watching her.

“You could, but you’re not going to,” Sean said, shrugging it off.

“And why is that?” Cayley asked, moving to grab a fry off her plate only to pull her hand back with a sigh when the greedy bastard glared at the move.

“Because you don’t like being alone,” Sean pointed out as he grabbed a fry and popped it in his mouth.

“Yes, I do,” Cayley said, unable to help but frown as she tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

“You won’t do anything unless you have someone to do it with, which is why you never did anything when you were dating the asshole unless I dragged you out.”

“How is it my fault that he never wanted to go out?” she asked, moving to grab her milkshake only to resign herself to packing a lunch from now on, otherwise, she was going to starve.

“It’s not,” Sean said, pausing to take another sip. “But you used him as an excuse so that you never had to do anything.”

“That’s not true,” Cayley said, drumming her fingertips against the tabletop as she glared at the bastard that clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

“It really is,” Sean said, nodding absently before adding, “I know you better than you know yourself.”

“And yet, you don’t because I have no problem doing things on my own,” Cayley said with a firm nod, only to add, “None whatsoever,” just to make sure that they were clear about this.

“Really? Then, tell me one thing that you do on your own,” Sean said, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer.

“I live alone,” Cayley pointed out.

“That doesn’t count,” Sean said with a sad shake of his head.

“Why doesn’t that count?”

“Besides the fact that you hate living alone?” Sean asked.

“Besides that,” Cayley said, shrugging it off as a given since it really wasn’t relevant to this conversation.

“You don’t like doing anything by yourself,” Sean said, matching her shrug with one of his own.

“That really cleared it up. Thank you,” Cayley said dryly.

“When’s the last time that you went to the movies by yourself?”

“There’s nothing good playing at the moment,” Cayley pointed out even as she tried to remember the last time that she went to the movies by herself and had to admit that it had been a while.

“Okay,” Sean said, nodding as though that was a given. “How about this? You grab breakfast from your aunt’s bakery every morning, eat every meal here at this diner, you won’t go shopping unless someone’s with you, refuse to work from home even though it would probably be safer given the fact that the building that you’re currently working in is being renovated, and if you can’t find someone to drag along, you don’t go anywhere.”

“That’s not true,” Cayley said, reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose even as she had to admit that it might be true.

“Really? Then tell me one thing that you do on your own,” Sean said with a smug look that was definitely going to land him in that snowbank.

“The grocery store,” Cayley said, dropping her hand away as she waited for him to admit that he was wrong.

“You made friends with everyone that works there so that you have someone to hang out with whenever you have to go shopping,” Sean said, sighing heavily as he muttered, “I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“You never gave me a choice, you psychotic bastard!” Cayley snapped.

“We both know that you could have gotten a restraining order,” Sean said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.

“Because you’d respect a restraining order?” Cayley demanded, shaking her head in disbelief as she glared at the bastard driving her crazy.

“Not a chance in hell.”