Page 26 of Thorns and Ashes
Her blue-green eyes avert down before meeting mine again, and when they do, they look as if they’re swimming.
“Ainsley? Are you okay?” I ask, surprised by the sudden shift and how much I care.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just so sad.” She sniffles. “Levi and his fiancée,”
“Wait! That guy is engaged?” I question immediately, my tone drenched in disbelief. Who would ever want to put up with this guy?
“He was. She was a firefighter, too. She died saving his life back in February.”
Chills travel down my body as I’m shocked into silence.
“According to the news and friends, it was some type of structural collapse when they were volunteering to fight Wildfires together. She pushed him out of the way.”
A small gasp escapes me. That’s the most horrible and heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard.
“He’s always been rough, sharp-mouthed, and stubborn as they come. But since he lost her, it’s like whatever spark he had got snuffed out.”
My heart, that’s usually locked somewhere deep within my chest, pounds heavily imagining what that type of loss must feel like. I’ve never been in love. I’m not the type of person who openly shows my emotions, but I wasn’t expecting that. It must show, because Ainsley reaches out and squeezes my arm in an attempt to comfort me. No one deserves to experience that. Not even the man who has become the bane of my existence.
Uncomfortable with the heaviness of the emotions trying to take root inside me, I turn away from Ainsley only to lock onto jade-green eyes that are already watching me from across the cafe. I want to look away, but it’s as if we’re both locked in this moment. The revelation of what he must go through every morning, waking up without the person he thought he’d be spending his life with, all because she chose to save him. That’s a type of pain I can’t even imagine.
Slowly, he lowers his brows. His expression becomes angrier the longer our eyes are locked onto each other, until thankfully, I snap out of it.
What the hell.
I try shaking it off by staying busy and doing my job as I breathe in all of the freshly baked pastries behind our glass display case andhead to the register to take the next group’s order that walks in, but Ainsley beats me to it.
“Can you grab their order?” She nods toward the group of firefighters that I was hoping to avoid at all costs, and I internally curse myself.
“You sure you don’t want to say hi to Billy?” I tease, knowing Ainsley is who they’re probably hoping for, but I reluctantly head over anyway.
I walk through the other patrons and up to their table, avoiding Levi’s heavy, flat-out angry gaze the best I can.
I’m seriously starting to wonder if that’s the only emotion he knows how to display.
“What do you want?” I ask, skipping over pleasantries.
When Mark and Billy look up from their conversation and see it’s me, they both flinch, provoking an instant eye roll.Idiots. I’ve told them both off a time or dozen over the years for so many idiotic things that I’ve lost count. But the worst was when they almost blew their fingers off with firecrackers during a pep rally in high school, and damaged my brand-new, one-of-a-kind Louis Vuitton shoes. I’m pretty sure I made one of them cry that day, though I’m not sure which one. And now these are the men responsible for puttingoutthe fires in our town... lovely.
“Delightful as ever,” Levi mumbles under his breath, but this time, instead of taking the bait, I brush him off, acting like I didn’t hear him as I finish taking everyone else’s orders.
“And for you? The usual?” I grit out through a forced smile. The news of what he’s been through is still fresh in my mind, and it must be why I’m not in the mood to spar with him today.
“I think I’ll skip the usual crappy cup of coffee today. Thanks.”
I grind my teeth so hard I’m reminded of the cavity I’ve been meaning to go see the dentist about.
“So nothing then?” I exhale slowly through my nose. If he makes me crack a tooth, I will yank that beard hair right out of his stupid face.
“How about adecentcup of coffee and a turkey club? Think you can handle that?” His eyes narrow, and I swear there’s a hint of a smug smirk tilting at the corner of his lips.
“Sure,” I bite out, walking away before I tell him exactly where he can shove that turkey club.
I punch the order into the computer with a ferocity that has Ainsley staring, concern etched into every little line on her face.
“You know, if you keep looking at me like that, you’ll get wrinkles,” I mutter, the edge in my voice dulling a little as I finish at the computer and start on the order.
She snorts. “I’d be more worried about my face gettin’ stuck like yours right about now. Honey, you look like someone stole the last piece of pie and then threw it at you.”
