Free Begin to Begin by A.S. Brown Page A

presence and definitely never in an office supply store.
    She approaches behind me, right as I take one last deep breath in.
    "You OK?"
    "Um, yeah. You ready?" I somehow croak out.
    She looks down at everything in her hands, and I reach over and start taking things from her. She doesn't need to carry all this crap when I can do it.
    "Thanks, I think we have everything."
    Waiting in the short line in silence, I take notice to how tiny she really is. She easily only comes to the bottom of my chest. "How tall are you, exactly?" I blurt out, not able to stop the thoughts in my head from making themselves known. She seems so tiny and frail. Like, if I laid a hand, or hell, my body on her, she would break.
    She turns and looks over her shoulder at me. "I'm exactly five feet tall. Yes, I know I'm short." She looks me up and down. "Exactly how tall are you ?" she asks with a quirk of her eyebrow.
    "Hmm. I guess around 6'4"." She smiles and turns back around. The rest of our time is spent making small talk about the bookstore or the weather. We stop and grab some Chinese food for lunch and take it back to the garage with us to eat while she sets everything up.
    When we make it back to the garage, she gets to work in the office. She gets the internet set up as she shovels in pork fried rice. She starts a quick spreadsheet for me to keep track of the customers for now until I decide what all I am going to need other than that.
    "So, I guess. I should be going." She stands and brushes off her jeans. "I'm actually surprised that Amelia and Joey haven't sent a search party out for me yet."
    Glancing behind me at the clock I notice that it's four o'clock. "Holy shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take up so much of your day."
    She places her dainty hand on my arm, and it's warm, and I want nothing more than to feel the rest of her warmth. "It's OK, Dalton. I'm glad I could help, and I really enjoyed myself today. Thank you."
    Grabbing her giant bag that has to weigh a ton, she walks over to the door. I can tell she isn't sure what to say. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, right?"
    I shove my hands in my jeans pockets because I don't know what else to do with them. "Definitely." She nods and walks out of the office, closing the door behind her.
    As much as my body wants to stop her, I can't get my mouth to form the words. But I need to stop her. If I don't try, I will regret it. Right?

Chapter Nine
Marin
    I thought he was going to stop me. I could see something in his eyes. But it's for the best. Even if he would have, this can never be more than a casual friendship. I could never give my heart away again, well, what's left of it anyway.
    Picking up my phone I shoot Amelia a quick text.
    Me: Leaving now. See you in a few.
    Amelia: It's about damn time. I was about to call the police.
    Sometimes, she drives me crazy so I send her an eye roll emoji. She has always been a bit on the dramatic side. I back out and head back down the driveway and see Uncle Mel outside making his way down the driveway in the direction of the garage. Most likely on his way to make sure everything is in order.
    As I am stopped at the stop sign at the end of the road, I glance over at the passenger seat where I threw my phone and notice it lit up. I grab it quickly and see that Dalton has texted.
    Dalton: Can I call you later?
    Biting my lip, I contemplate how to respond. Before I can second guess myself, I type out a simple: yes.
    I wait a minute to see if he responds before I pull out onto the highway. He doesn't though, so I throw my phone on the passenger seat and continue on my way. As I drive, I start getting mixed feelings about Dalton. Whatever is happening feels slightly wrong and the guilt is slowly eating away at me, but I can't help the butterflies that fill my stomach, either.
    Listening to the radio I sing along to some of the songs as I drive to Amelia’s. As soon as I pull in the parking lot of her apartment building, I notice Joey's car. These two