Page 62 - It Ends with Us

over at me and Allysa. “Thi s is inc red ible. It does n’t ev en look like the

same building !”
Okay, maybe I’m fine with hi m bei ng the firs t customer.
It takes hi m a few minu tes to actually make it to the count er
bec ause he can’t stop touchi ng thi ng s and looking at thi ng s. When he
fina lly does rea ch us, Allysa runs around the count er and hu gs hi m.
“Isn’t it bea utiful?” she says. She waves her ha nd in my direc tion. “It

was all her idea . All of it. I just hel ped with the dirty work.”
R yle laughs . “I find it ha rd to bel iev e tha t your Pint ere st skills
didn’t play a little part.”
I no d. “She’s bei ng modes t. Her skills were ha lf of wha t brought
thi s vision to life. ”
R yle smiles at me and it might as wel l ha ve been a kni fe to the
ches t, bec ause ouch.

He slaps hi s ha nd s on the count er and says, “Am I the firs t offic ial
customer?”
Allysa ha nd s hi m one of our flyers . “You ha ve to actually buy
somet hi ng to be cons idered a customer.”
R yle glanc es over the flyer and then set s it back down on the
count er. He walks to one of the displays and grabs a vase full of purple

lilies . “I want thes e, ” he says, set ting them on the count er.
I smile, wond eri ng if he rea lizes he just picked lilies . Kind of ironic.
“Do you want us to del iver them somew here?” Allysa says.
“You guys del iver?”
“Allysa and I don’t,” I rep ly. “We ha ve a del iver y driver on stand by.
We weren’ t sure if we’d actually need hi m today.”
“Are you actually buying thes e for a girl?” Allysa asks. She’s just

prying int o her brother’ s love life like a sister would na turally do, but
I catch mysel f step ping closer to her so I can hea r hi s ans wer bet ter.
“I am,” he says. His ey es meet mine and he adds, “I don’t thi nk
about her ver y much, tho ugh. Hardly ev er.”
Allysa grabs a card and slides it to hi m. “Poor girl,” she says. “You
are such a dick.” She taps her fing er on the card. “Write your mes sage

to her on the front and the addres s you want them del ivere d to on the
back.”
I watch hi m as he bend s over the card and writes on both sides . I
kno w I don’t ha ve a right , but I’m brimming with jea lousy.