When I Was Theirs

35. Emmy

35

Emmy

A ngelo taps his fingers on the battered wooden table, drawing my attention. We’re busy today, a flurry of bouquet orders coming in at once and a corporate event to prepare for. The table is covered with discarded petals and scraps of twine and greenery. “Emilia.”

His voice is soft, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Angelo.”

My boss clears his throat, bushy eyebrows lifting. “We have a photographer coming in to take some pictures. For a marketing feature online.”

“Really? That’s… great.” I glance down at my outfit. I’m wearing leggings and my favorite boots, one of Ben’s sweatshirts thrown over the top that I’ve pushed back past my elbows. I can’t actually remember the last time I washed my hair. “You know, I don’t think I’m dressed—,”

“Nonsense,” he says abruptly. “They need a person in the picture.”

We eye each other. Slowly, I wave at him. “What are you? A hologram?”

“Your boss,” Angelo says crisply. “He’ll be here in twenty minutes. You look… fine.”

We both look down. Angelo sighs, disappearing out of sight and muttering about standards at work.

Excusing myself to the bathroom, I pinch my cheeks and try to make myself look more presentable.

Definitely need to wash my hair.

The photographer doesn’t linger long, thankfully. A bored-looking guy in his forties, he snaps a few pictures of me building a bouquet from several different angles and declares himself done. “It’ll run over the next few weeks.”

A small tendril of unease snakes through me as I watch him disappear through the door as quickly as he arrived.

It’s just a marketing feature.

“Emmy,” Angelo bellows from the back room where he’s been hiding. “Take your lunch break.”

“I’m actually fine—,”

“Bring me back a sandwich. Take money from the till. One for you too.”

Rolling my eyes, I do as I’m told. I need to eat anyway, with a double shift. I won’t have time later, and I didn’t have breakfast.

Sandwiches and receipt in hand, I’m pushing out of the café when I bump into someone from the other side. The door bangs into their head, and they stumble back with a curse. “Jesus Christ.”

“Sorry—,” My eyes widen as Jared pins a glare on me, rubbing at his head. “What are you doing here?”

I’ve seen him a few times over the last few weeks at the bar, but each of us has avoided any in-depth conversation.

Ben’s brother has a real talent at making me feel… unsettled. He does it again, running his eyes over me with an assessing gaze that makes me more than aware of my greasy hair. He lingers on Ben’s sweatshirt. “Getting assaulted with a door. You?”

I press my lips together, holding up the food in answer. “Lunch break.”

“You’re working the bar today? I thought they didn’t open until four.”

“I work at a florist during the day.” I duck out of the way of a determined family charging through the café doorway. “That’s what I’m trained in.”

Something flickers in his eyes at that. “Did you make those flowers yourself? For the - for Ben?”

My heart constricts. “Yeah.”

Three days hiding in Angelo’s workroom, where he left me alone, my hands shredding as I put them together while my heart broke. “They were… never mind.”

“Tell me.” Jared falls into step next to me. “What were they?”

I clear my throat. “A story,” I say hoarsely. “Our story, I guess. It’s stupid, really.”

Silence.

“I don’t understand,” Jared admits finally.

My lips twitch. “Flowers have their own language. Each flower has a meaning. It can change, depending on colors and numbers. It’s called floriography.”

This feels familiar. I’ve had this discussion before, with another Bennett brother. But Jared isn’t satisfied with the basics. “Explain the story to me.”

“Please,” I mutter.

“Please.” His eyes are pinned on me when I glance at him. “I’d like to know.”

I swallow. “I started with aspen leaf. Fear, for the night we met. We… he was at the bar, and we had a blackout. That’s how we met, really.”

“So… he scared you?”

I half-smile. “He saved me, actually. I don’t like the dark. Ben pulled me out of it and walked me home.”

“Aspen leaf.” He shakes his head. “I had no idea.”

He doesn’t ask me why I’m scared of the dark, and I don’t offer. But I share some parts with him, the parts I can talk about, until we reach Angelo’s door. “Where were you going, anyway?”

He glances up and down the street, his eyebrows raising. “Nowhere important.”

I gesture to the door. “Well, this is me. See you later?”

“Yeah.” He slips his hands into his pockets. “Thanks. For sharing that with me. I’m never going to look at flowers the same way again. They were beautiful.”

The small smile feels unfamiliar, pulling up my lips. “A whole new world. And thank you.”

I watch him walk away, back in the same direction. I bite down on my lip before I call out.

Before I call him out. “Jared?”

He turns immediately.

“Are you going to follow me home again tonight?”

A red tint flushes his cheekbones. But he rocks back on his heels, one eyebrow raising. “Probably.”

He doesn’t deny it. I haven’t seen him. But I know he’s there.

He doesn’t technically walk me home. But Jared still makes sure I get home after every shift.

“You may as well walk with me.” For the first time in weeks, my chest feels warm. Full. “Instead of creeping around behind me.”

Jared Bennett smiles at me, then. A true smile, that changes his face into something that makes my heart flip. Because in that moment, he reminds me of Ben , the resemblance so strong that my breath catches in my throat. “See you later, Emilia.”

“Bye, Jared.”