Free Through Glass (The Glass Series Book 1) by Kari Fisher Page A

during this stay with his buddies, he speaks with one of her gossipy friends and learns that she has been with other men, and that she thought the baby might not be his. His already broken heart is shattered even more and he knows there’s no getting back together with her now. They cannot fix it this time. He sends her a text, telling her to lose his number for good. When she continues to call, he changes his number, resulting in her showing up at his friend’s house and pounding on the door until he ends up calling the cops, who escort her off the property. Maybe he refuses to face her again and because of that, he’s willing to just start over, without going back to the apartment they once shared to collect his belongings. He literally has a couple books and the clothes on his back.
    Maybe I’m completely wrong, though.
    “Where’s a good place to get some food around here?” he asks.
    I snap back to reality. “What do you like?”
    “Anything. I’m starving.”
    “There’s a café just down the street. They have gourmet sandwiches and those cute little peanut butter and colored marshmallow squares,” I suggest.
    He takes me up on my suggestion, and asks me to accompany him to Bean There. I’m wondering if this will make Oliver jealous or not.
    We decide to walk, because he sat all day in the car. It’s getting dark and starting to drizzle, but neither of us seem to care. We laugh and talk the whole way, and I discover we actually have quite a bit in common. Though not professionally, he does like to draw. He doesn’t think he’s very good at it. We like the same type of music and he actually knows of my favorite band. They’re not his favorite, but I forgive him. We share a love for acoustic music and classic guitars, though neither of us can play. He’s never been fishing or camping, but he’s been to several “art crawls,” where a bunch of people interested in art meet on an online forum and then get together at several different coffee shops and pubs to share stories, drink, and discuss their favorite works. I’m beginning to think he and I could be really good friends.
    “I have a cat,” he mentions.
    “Really?” I guess I sound surprised. I don’t know too many bachelors who have cats. Actually, I don’t know any, come to think of it.
    “Yes, really.” He laughs. “Her name is Pickles.”
    The fact that I’m imagining a little kitty playdate for NyQuil and his soon-to-be-new-feline-friend, Pickles, makes me think I’m slightly insane. Sanity is overrated, anyway.
    “That’s an awesome name.” I laugh.
    We’re almost at the coffee shop—I can see it from here. I wonder if I should mention anything about me working there now, and that Oliver is a friend of mine. I decide against it, and we walk in.
    He lets me pick the table, and we slide into a quiet booth at the back.
    “What would you like? I’ll buy,” he offers. “Consider it a thank you for helping me unload the car.”
    “I’m actually good for now. If I have another coffee today, I’ll be bouncing off the walls.”
    “That might be entertaining,” he says, laughing.
    I watch as he walks over and places his order. It’s one of the other employees manning the counter, who I don’t know very well. I don’t see Oliver anywhere. Maybe he already went home. I notice he hasn’t sent me a text message yet so he should still be here somewhere.
    Chase is back at the table. He talks my ear off about why he chose to move here, and how he had such a hard time finding a place to live. He says he’s lucky to have found the vacant apartment in my building for such a great price.
    “I’m a professional forklift operator,” he replies, when I ask him what he does. “I’m pretty good at lifting forks to my mouth.”
    “Sounds like a good career,” I joke.
    “I’m just kidding. I’m actually an electrician.”
    He doesn’t look like an electrician. He looks like he could be in movies. He wears thick glasses, baggy