I didn’t wait for a response from Jamal. Just threw my phone onto the passenger seat and started driving. I needed to get out of my head. Out of this car. Away from her.

The roads blurred together, the dull hum of the engine and the faint, distant noise of the radio barely registering. I kept one hand on the wheel, the other tapping restlessly against my thigh, the ghost of Beverly’s smug smile still burning behind my eyes.

I barely even realized where I was going until I was already pulling into the parking lot of the cinema.

I wasn’t supposed to be in until later, but I didn’t care.

I stepped out, slamming the door shut a little harder than necessary, rolling my shoulders back as if that would shake her out of my system.

It didn’t.

* * *

The scent of buttered popcorn and overpriced soda syrup was so ingrained in this place that I swore I could still smell it on my clothes hours after I clocked out.

The neon glow of the menu boards flickered slightly, casting a dull light over the concession stand where I leaned against the counter, drumming my fingers against the surface. The place was half-empty tonight, with the usual trickle of couples too busy making out to actually watch the movie and kids trying to sneak into R-rated films.

It was slow enough that I had time to lazily spin a straw between my fingers as I watched the clock tick by.

I had a shift with Riley tonight. She was new, still figuring things out, but she was already one of the few coworkers I actually liked. She had dark, close-cropped hair and a lip piercing she always played with when she was thinking. She was easy-going, didn’t ask too many questions, and had a knack for staying out of the drama that seemed to swirl around everyone else. Riley was also very much not into men—something that, in a place like this, probably made her the smartest person here.

She stood beside me, her head tilted as she inspected her nails. “Slow night,” she muttered over the low hum of a movie trailer playing over the speakers in the lobby.

“Yeah.”

She sighed. “You think if I fake a stomachache, Greg will let me go home early?”

“Pretty sure that trick only works once.”

“Then we’re in luck. I’ve never tried it before.”

I hummed, scanning the lobby. “If you’re that desperate to leave, I’ll cover for you.”

Riley raised a brow. “Look at you, being all gentlemanly.”

“I just don’t care enough to stop you.”

She smirked, leaning an elbow on the counter. “And here I was, thinking you had a heart under all that broody silence.”

“I’m not broody.”

She scoffed. “Please. You’ve been broody since I met you.”

I turned to her, my voice dry. “Riley, you met me last month.”