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“I like Diet Coke,” Kyle offered, twisting and tying a trash bag closed, rounding out tonight’s crew.
“Of course you do.” Jax rolled his eyes, and it went completely over Kyle’s head.
“It’s good.” He shrugged, walking past me.
I tugged him back by the arm. “You want to clean out the popcorn machine, and I’ll do the dishes and mopping tonight?” I asked him. We were the only two here until closing, besides Jax who would be busy counting out drawers and inventory, so I smiled extra wide for added sway. I think Kyle would’ve given in either way, though, because full honesty, I was pretty sure he was into me. Or… I knew he was into me, I just refused to acknowledge it. Except for in these cases, when I completely took advantage of it, but that was beside the point.
“Sure,” he answered, and I wanted to hug him, but I didn’t. For obvious reasons.
I could’ve been into him too, though, I guess.Could’vebeing the operative word. He was my type, almost down to a T, but he was…Kyle.Take last week for example:
His fingers were steepled beneath his chin, his gaze lost in a world of thought as his eyes held the view of the arcade games in the lobby.
“You want to come grab a burger with us after work? Jax is coming. Josh and Molly, too. Brian… basically everyone,” I told him. We were done for the night, just waiting for Jax to finish up his counts.
“Sure.” He took a deep breath and sighed, all melancholy and shit. “You ever think about the stars?” he asked.
“What?”
“The stars. I mean, are they really these big, burning balls of gas, or do you think they could be something else?”
It would’ve made more sense if he was looking out the window or something, but he was just staring at flashing lights and blinking game screens.
“Like a collection of wishes,” he continued anyway, running his hand through his greasy, mussed-up hair. “Filled with so much burning hope, that they’re forced to shine that brightly…”
Um, yeah. No. Perhaps I should be reevaluating my type, I thought to myself then,and I was thinking it to myself now. Perhaps someone more…oppositeof Kyle.
“Hey, Liv. Can I get a refill, please?” The tone and lilt of his voice filled my mind before his words did. Not Kyle’s. Neil’s.
What was he doing here?I’d managed to not think about him at all today (total lie), and now here he was. Standing in front of me with an empty cup in his hand.
Right. Refill.Mind, shut up. Heart, slow down.
“Sure,” I said, unintentionally stretching the word out a few extra vowels so it sounded more like a:suuurrrre.
I took the cup from him. “What would you like?”
“Half Coca-Cola, half Sprite.”Okay, gross.“I can see you judging me, Olivia,” he commented right away, and it made me laugh.
I filled up his cup with his concoction and handed it back to him. Securing the top on it, he took a sip.
Something like,“Hmmm,”came from his closed lips, and it forced me to bite down on mine.
My heart wasn’t listening at all; it just kept pounding away, clouding my thoughts.
“Perfect, thank you,” he said, and one moment his cup was in his hands, and the next it was in mine. I took a drink from his straw.
It still tasted like Coke—mostly. That nice, kick you in your face boldness I loved, but with… just a hint of lime somehow.
“Huh. Not bad,” I said and slid his cup back to him. I knew nothing about boundaries, obviously.
He picked it up with a subtle smirk, a hint of pink on his cheeks, and a severity to his eyes that didn’t at all match the Neil I knew. The Neil IthoughtI knew, anyway. He was quickly becoming a total fallacy in my mind. A complete contradiction to who I’d assumed he was for the past ten years.
“Well. Enjoy your movie. I’ll see you Monday,” I rushed out, turning around and walking straight into the back room behind the concession stand.
“What in the fucking H-E-double-hockey-sticks was that?” Jax asked, looking at me with wide eyes.
“What’s the point of spelling out ‘hell’ if you’re going to throw a ‘fuck’ in there first?” I responded.