by Piper Rayne
“Bagel boy?” I ask, not understanding the reference.
“Seth’s parents own Andrews Bagel Co.” Dylan nods at his friend.
“Shut up!” I hit Seth square in the arm. He sits back, rubbing the spot I hit. “Oh… sorry. Three brothers.”
“Did they make you lift weights with them? I’m embarrassed to say it kind of hurt.” He continues to rub at his arm.
Dylan laughs. “He’s a wimp.”
“Have her hit you.” Seth nudges me.
“Don’t worry, eventually she will.” Sierra smiles over the rim of her wine glass.
“Why the excitement about Andrews Bagel Co.?” Rian changes the topic.
“Oh.” I set my wine down. “The guy from work… he brought me a bagel today from Andrews Bagel Co. and it’s funny because I’d brought him one from The Bagel Place.”
Seth’s hand slams down on the table. “I’m sorry, you did what? You went to The Bagel Place?”
“Bad move, Blanca,” Dylan says, humor lighting in his eyes.
“Why?” I look between the two of them, confused.
“They’re his arch nemesis.” Sierra laughs and Seth shoots her a glare that would cause a younger person to whither.
“The families have an on-going feud,” Dylan explains. “The only bagels around here are Andrews Bagel Co. bagels.”
Seth clears his throat. “Because ours are ten times better than The Bagel Place.”
“Okay, so only Andrews Bagel Co. from today on.” I put my hands up in front of me in a placating gesture.
“Glad we’ve come to an understanding.” Seth leans back in his chair and sips his beer. “Your work crush sounds like he’s a winner though.” He winks.
“Because he eats your family’s bagels?” Sierra asks.
Seth sets his gaze on her. “Yes. That’s enough in my book.”
“I’m not sure your opinion matters,” Sierra says with a smirk.
Dylan’s phone rings and he pulls it out, silencing it immediately.
“The shop?” Rian asks.
Dylan shakes his head and he gives her a look that says drop the subject. Both of their attention flickers to Sierra for a moment, so I can only assume it must be Sigmund since Dylan and Sierra’s ex are still friends.
“PIZZA!” Knox walks out onto the roof with a stack of pizza boxes.
For the rest of the night, I find out a lot more about my new group of friends—Dylan really can consume half a cake all by himself and Rian’s eyes fill with hearts watching him do so. Seth is a man’s man even with him saying me hitting him hurt, and he and Sierra might bicker, but they’re close as evidenced when they team up against Knox and me in a game of beer pong.
By the time the sun is completely set and darkness fills the sky along with stars, I’m exhausted from my first week in a new place.
“We’re heading out. Anyone wanna join us?” Dylan asks.
Knox has the empty pizza boxes in his arms.
“Nah, I’m done for tonight.” Sierra sits down next to me in the chair, leaning her head on my shoulder. I swear I see relief on his face after she speaks.
I decide to follow the guys down to get another bottle of rosé, and they stop me outside my apartment door. Dylan places his hand on my back.
“Hey, we’re going out with Sigmund. Can you maybe keep Sierra in for tonight? I mean, Cliffton Heights is too small for us not to run in to each other at the few places open at this hour. And I’m not in the mood for a fight.”
I nod. “I don’t think she wants to go anywhere.”
Seth and Knox eye one another. “I thought you guys were friends. Sierra gets a second wind eventually. She’s never down for the count,” Seth says and Knox nods in agreement.
“Okay, I’ll try my best.” I open the apartment door.
“One day I’d love for you to meet Sig. I think the two of you would get along great.” Dylan leans over and gives me a hug and the other two guys follow suit. They’re lucky I’m Italian and used to affection.
“Well, he’s already been clearly marked off limits.” I chuckle.
Dylan nods. “I’m talking about a friendship.”
I shake my head. “Have a great night guys.”
“You too.”
I enter the apartment, grab the bottle of rosé and I rush back to the rooftop where Sierra’s put on a 90s playlist and is now dancing.
Rian looks over at me. “Sierra has her second wind.”
I sit down next to Rian, pouring her a glass. “I’ve been warned to keep her in.”
“I figured,” Rian says. “I’m glad you moved here.” She smiles at me and a warm feeling heats my chest.
I return her smile. “Me too.”
We lean back in our chairs and watch Sierra dance around enjoying life. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.
Chapter Eleven
Ethan
*
I sit on the last bench of the last train leaving the city toward Cliffton Heights. Gil’s five rows up and over from me. With my takeout containers next to me, I wait, knowing this is the worst decision I could’ve made. But for some reason when it comes to Blanca Mancini, I have no restraint.
My dad was unable to join us today, which left me as the only one my mom could play twenty questions with since my sister Kori said she had a project at work she couldn’t get away from.
I check my watch. Just as I close my eyes thinking Blanca must’ve took an earlier train, the doors open and my eyes spring open. She’s like a vision standing there on the far end of the train. Her smile is immediate as is the pink flush to her cheeks. Why do I love to torture myself?
I watch her closely as she walks down and places a container next to Gil and continues her way to the bench across from me.
“Are you stalking me, Ethan Ryland?”
“I told you I was, so you shouldn’t be surprised.”
She laughs and it’s the best sound I’ve heard all day. It’s all a bad idea. The fact that she’s across from me after another shitty Sunday. Every week I leave my mom’s with a mix of knotted up emotions I can’t unravel. Now two weeks in a row she’s like an angel who makes me forget all the shit I’m leaving behind for another seven days.
“It’s sick that I hoped I’d find you here. What does that say about me?” she asks.
I get up from my seat, leaving my food and bag, sitting down next to her. “That you can’t get that kiss out of your head.”
“Ethan,” she sighs and stares out the window.
The train jolts and starts moving down the track. More tension leaves my body as the distance grows between my past and my future.
The expression on Blanca’s face looks pained when she glances over at me.
“What?”
“This.” She waves her finger between us. “The hot and cold.”
“I wasn’t aware there was any cold.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Really? You gave me the cold shoulder Friday afternoon, then kissed me breathless and ran out of the elevator? I’d say that’s the definition of hot and cold.”
Of course, she’s right. But the high of finishing an article is nothing to joke around about. I always want to party and celebrate, but Friday afternoon, I wanted to throw Blanca over my shoulder, drag her to my apartment, and fuck her six ways to Sunday. Because she would be the ultimate celebration.
“I’m sorry. I’m not mature when it comes to my feelings.”
She laughs because she gets my humor. Although there’s always some truth inside a joke. “Seriously, what’s your plan here?”
I shrug. “I like you.”
She sighs.
“Do you like me?” I ask.
“Are you sure you don’t want to pass me a note where I check off yes or no?”
I reach over to my bench and grab the tortilla espanola I made. “Here.”
“You’re dodging the question with food?”
“I am.”
She breaks off a piece and holds it ove
r her open palm, bringing it to her mouth. “Umm.”
“You like it?”
She swallows. “I do.” Then her eyes grow wide. “Oh, I’m sorry do those two words make you itch?”
I stare blankly at her and shake my head. “Not at all. If you hadn’t shown up Monday morning at my office, I guarantee you I’d be offering to put more in your mouth than my espanola right now.”
Her gaze turns heated and I notice the way she pushes her legs together. “I’m wondering how long you can hold out.”
I shift in my seat in an attempt to make room for the blood rushing to my dick. My head falls back to the seat and I inhale a deep breath.
Blanca busies herself getting her leftovers out. “I cut the chicken parmesan into small bites and I brought you a fork.” She passes me over a plastic fork. “Disclaimer, I had nothing to do with this meal.”
“Didn’t let your brother ruin it?”
Her jaw ticks. “No.”
I fork a piece of chicken and eat it. It’s so delicious it makes me want to cook Italian. I’ve only ever really cooked Spanish or American food. “It’s delicious.”
“Maybe one Sunday you could come to my parent’s house. They live in Carroll Gardens. Where are you from?”
I stall until I realize she’s not going to let me not answer. “Mont Haven.”
“Bronx.” She doesn’t have the same tone to her voice most do when I tell them. Not like I tell many people though. The only person who really knows where I’m from is Dylan and that’s only because he met me the first day of freshman orientation.
“And your family? You never really mention them.”
“My mom loves my caramel chocolate chip bars.” I grab the container and open it for her. “Try one.”
Her mouth hangs open and she takes one like she’s trying to dodge the stickiness of the caramel. I’d lick the remnants off her finger if she were mine. Placing it on her tongue, her mouth closes and her eyes light up as she chews and swallows. “Have you ever thought of being a baker?”
“Nah, I learned because sweets made my mom and sister happy when I was younger.”
She lets the topic go and doesn’t pry for more information. Blanca’s polite and understands my need for privacy and I feel bad that I’ve left her in limbo like she said. Taking her on a date that I said wasn’t a date, then bringing her bagel, flirting with her non-stop, kissing her in the elevator and bolting afterward.
I place my hand on her knee and she twitches at first, then relaxes, staring up at me with those doe eyes. What I have to tell her might not even register because she’s lived a happy childhood.
“It’s not fair what I’ve been doing and I’m sorry.”
Her lips tip down in the corner. “Maybe we should draw the line now?”
“Like either friends or more?”
“I’m guessing since you have such a problem dating a co-worker, we’re going with the friends side of that offer.”
Since when did the word friend sound like she should put money in the swear jar after saying it?
“I really like you,” I say, like that’s going to make this any easier.
“So you’ve said.” Her tone isn’t anything like it usually is. Her flirtatiousness has dimmed significantly. She’s mad, I think. “It’s fine. Honestly.”
“PEEKSKIL!” the train conductor announces, and Gil stands up, staring at both the Tupperware containers, confused. He raises them in the air, leaves the train and stumbles down the platform.
Once we’re alone, any resolve I had vanishes. “This is a hard decision for me to make. You have no idea the amount of sleep I’ve lost over it.”
She nods, but she’s looking anywhere but at me.
“Blanca, please understand,” I plead.
Finally, her gaze meets mine. “What exactly do you want from me? To tell you I’m cool with being in limbo? Give you permission to kiss me whenever the mood strikes you and then run away scared?”
“Scared?”
“Yes, you’re scared. Over what, I have no idea, but I just wish the back and forth would end. Either you want to pursue this with me, or you don’t.”
Shit, I wish that fight inside of her didn’t do it for me the way it does.
“I didn’t want to kiss you,” I say.
Her face drops. She moves to grab her stuff and her hip hits mine to slide out, but I dig my feet into the floor.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I run my hand over the back of my neck and pull to relieve the blockage that is obviously stopping the oxygen from hitting my brain and allowing me to form a proper thought.
“You’re batting a thousand tonight. Let me save you some time. I’ll go sit up front and you can stay here. We’ll get off at Cliffton Heights and I promise you tomorrow morning I’ll only be your co-worker.”
Here we go. This is like Sierra all over again.
I slide out of the bench and go to my side. Just like she promised, she takes her bags and leaves. As if she can’t even stand to be in my car, she gets up and goes to another car.
When Todd walks through, he raises both eyebrows at me. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
He sits down and I open up the caramel bars for him. He takes one and leans back in the seat. “Come on. You guys were going to be the story I tell my grandkids. The two strangers who met on a train.”
I blow out a breath. It’s not like I have anyone else to talk to about this. Dylan says nail her. Seth says don’t. If my mom found out, she would get all hopeful.
“Turns out we work together.”
“So?”
“I can’t date someone I work with.”
His eyebrows move together. “Against company policy?”
I don’t even know if it is. Knowing Phil, it’s not. He’d probably go get ordained online so he could marry us. “I’m not sure but that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
We’re almost at Cliffton Heights so I get my bags together. “It’ll end in disaster.”
“Have you had a work relationship before?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?” He steals another bar and I put the lid back on and pass the container to him. “The kids will love these.”
“How many relationships do you know that turn out well? Plus, it’ll make me weak.”
He chokes on his cookie from laughing. “Weak?”
“Yeah, you know because I’ll worry about how I look in her eyes. It’ll compromise my craft, change me.”
He blinks a few times like he can’t process my words. “Are you different at work?”
“A little. I like to keep a distance between me and them.”
“Them being your co-workers?”
“Yeah.”
“So, your co-workers are the enemy?”
“No.” I stop and consider what he’s asking. “I just mean… if they see my weakness they might use it against me.”
“Like an enemy would.” Todd chuckles.
“You’re ridiculous. That’s not what I’m saying.”
“If you view your co-workers as enemies then you view her as an enemy and maybe that’s what’s really going on here.”
“I just said you have it wrong. Quit with the enemy thing.”
He laughs and I stand to get off, seeing her through the train windows.
Todd stands right behind me. “It’s a shame. From the way you look at her whether you pursue a relationship or not, I’m pretty sure your work relationship is already affected. Even though you might try to, you can’t control who you’re attracted to.” He clasps my shoulder. “And you and that girl are like magnets right now, sooner or later, the draw is going to be too powerful and you’ll come together. Work or not.”
The doors open and I spot her rush out of the train car ahead. I say goodbye to Todd and walk down the steps.
Todd’s words trigger something in me. He’s right that work has already changed because she’s there every day and
I seem to have no control over my feelings for her. Isn’t it best to play your hand before the opponent does? I need to get a handle on this before it spins out of control.
“Blanca!” I call out and she turns to face me. I’m surprised that I didn’t have to chase her.
“Yes, Ethan?”
I walk until I’m right in front of her. “Have dinner with me? After the article publishes. We’ll celebrate.” My hand itches to grab hers, but I refrain from not going too fast.
“Are you asking me out on a date or another work meeting?”
My shoulder deflate. “A date to celebrate our work success.”
“That’s pretty ambiguous.”
I blow out a breath and when I look back at her, she’s smiling. “A date. Blanca, go on a date with me.”
“I’d love to. Thanks for asking.” She swivels on her heels and walks away.
I watch her for a few moments before my phone rings in my pocket.
“Hey, Mom,” I say.
“You’re home?”
“Yeah, I’m home.” I walk in the opposite direction as Blanca no matter how bad I want to be walking beside her.
Chapter Twelve
Blanca
*
I’m sitting at my desk on Friday. The articles go up online at eleven and my heart beats like I just hopped off the bike in the middle of a cycling class.
“D day.”
I swivel my chair to find Ethan standing behind me with his cocky stance that gets me hot and bothered on display. “I’m nauseous.”
He chuckles and situates himself where he usually does, sliding his ass along the top of my two drawer filing cabinet, his legs hanging in front of him. He tosses an apple from hand to hand before taking one big bite out of it. “Relax,” he speaks over a mouthful of apple. “It’s your first.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll get used to the nerves.” He bites another hunk of apple off, chewing non-stop.
“You sure about that?”
He laughs and follows my vision to the apple in his hand. “Well, I’m not nauseous.”
“I’d rather be nauseous than eat my weight in food because I’m anxious.” I tap my pen on my desk and lift my cell phone off the table to check the time.
