Diving In (Open Door Love Story) by Stacey Wallace Benefiel Page A

quick.”
    Gabe kisses me, but not that quickly. I don’t mind.
     
    ~
     
     
    I’m about done with all of my closing duties when I see Andy pull up in his mom’s Jeep and park in what I’ve come to think of as Gabe’s spot. I may have told Gabe that everything is going to be fine, and it probably will be, but I am feeling less than fine at the moment. Andy away at college and Andy right in front of me getting out of the Jeep are almost two different people. Right in front of me Andy pulls at my heartstrings a bit.
    I remind myself we’re both going to be better off without each other. That it’s not smart, or right, to stay with someone you’re not in love with. I’d loved Andy because he was dependable, because he put up with me, because he was a good person. Those weren’t reasons enough to spend a lifetime with someone.
    The sleighbells I put on the door in a crazy fit of festivity jingle when Andy walks into the store.
    “Ooh, jingly jangly. Me likey.” He winks at me. Andy is a winker in the way that most cocky and confident guys are – it’s their punctuation.
    “Hey,” I say, pulling out the cash drawer and closing the register with my hip. I motion with my head for him to follow me back to the office so I can put the drawer in the safe.
    He grabs my ass no less than four times in the twenty feet from the front to the office.
    “Junnuen, looking muy bonita as always.”
    I don’t have to be looking at him to know he’s winking at her, too. I almost want to laugh. Andy is consistently Andy, which isn’t such a bad thing.
    Junnuen says nothing and I’m certain once we’re in the office she’ll respond to Andy with a few choice words en espanol.
    We go into the office and Andy shuts the door behind us. Oh God, he’s gonna try stuff . The last place I want to break things off with my boyfriend of three years is in my workplace. His mom’s car is a much better alternative.
    I can feel the heat of his hand about to grab my ass for a fifth time, so I sidestep, set the drawer on my desk and turn around. “Want to go for a drive?”
    Andy scrunches up his face. “Uh, no, not really.” He comes in for a quick peck on the mouth and I’m not fast enough to dodge it. I reflexively kiss him back.
    “Okay, well, how about we go up to my place? I think I have a beer or two in the fridge.” I turn my back on him and open the safe, shoving the drawer in. “I have something I need to talk to you about.”
    “No way,” he says, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me against his hard familiar body. “We can talk tomorrow when we’re all full of turkey and bored as shit watching some crap football game. Tonight,” he slides his hands from my waist up to my breasts and claps onto them, “we’re meeting some of the old swim team guys at Sunny’s.”
    Sunny’s is a pizza place that I’d managed to avoid the entirety of high school. Izzy Sundall’s dad owns the place and she’s worked there for probably as long as I’ve been working at the dry cleaners. “You know I don’t like the pizza at Sunny’s. They put too much garlic in the sauce.”
    “Well, Brynn, I love you, but you’re fucking nuts. And I know it has nothing to do with the sauce. You don’t like any pizza sauce unless it’s marshmallow fluff on a dessert pizza. High school’s done, time to get over whatever your deal with Izzy is.”
    “I don’t have a deal with Izzy.”
    He rolls his eyes at me. “Whatever.” Andy steps away and swats me on the butt. “Now, as much as I love a lady in uniform, you should probably go change so people don’t think you’re a server and ask you to bring them extra napkins and red pepper flakes.”
     
    ~
     
     
    The parking lot at Sunny’s is jam packed, so we park a few blocks away on a residential street.
    “Looks like you all weren’t the only ones who had the idea to meet up here, huh?” I say, flipping the hood on my coat up onto my head. “I hope someone got here early to get