A week later, holding things back still didn’t come so easily.

“The boss wants to talk to you,” my co-worker, Max, told me, his expression sympathetic.

Grimacing, I nodded. Talking to Zack was never any fun. He was an arrogant jerk, who never had anything but bad news to deliver. My mind racked my memories to see if I’d done anything wrong. None came up. Working at the cinema was easy. All I had to do was clean the theater after a movie let out, and sell tickets. There was literally no room to mess up. Unless you sold tickets to an R rated movie to underage teenagers, but I didn’t do that.

So when I walked into his office, his announcement caused me to flip.

“Are you fucking joking?” The words were out of my mouth before I could realize I was saying them.

My boss, Zack, looked taken aback at my language, but he smoothly recovered. “I’m sorry, but there aren’t enough hours to go around. I can’t keep giving you so many more than the other employees. They’re already talking about favoritism.”

“They? I think you mean Chelsea, what a bitch—”

“Chelsea has nothing to do with this,” Zack said firmly.

Yeah, I’ll bet. That girl hadn’t liked me since the first day I’d started working here. In fact, the first day, she had made me clean a whole theater by myself. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. This isn’t about favoritism—”

“I know,” Zack interrupted, silencing me with a hard look. “It’s about surviving. You’ve said this. But everyone knows you already have two jobs. Surely having a few hours cut back from this one won’t be too much of a problem.”

I grit my teeth. It was hard to keep my cool around him. Attacking him wouldn’t help me keep my job. I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “It might be. I don’t know. It’d be better if I could just keep my hours though—”

“It’s not fair to the other employees.”

“They’re adults! They can find better jobs!”

“You’re an adult too,” he fired back.

I hunched my shoulders and stayed quiet, knowing he was right. I was twenty-two, almost twenty-three. I couldn’t keep receiving special treatment. Lots of twenty-two year olds lived on their own, didn’t they? But they didn’t have to pay for house bills, and school tuition for two students, and gas, and everything else altogether. Still, I held my tongue.

“Come on, this job can’t be much fun, can it? Cleaning up people’s messes at the movie theater?”

“It’s still a job. I still make money,” I pointed out through gritted teeth.

Zack frowned at me. “You’re pretty desperate, huh?”

“Yes,” I admitted, because I had no idea what would happen if I lost any of the money that I was making then. I didn’t even want to think about it.

“Well, I bet I can think of a way that might convince me to let you keep your hours.”

I perked up at this, sitting straighter, my eyes a little wider than before. “Really?” Relief ran through me. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

As soon as a lecherous look appeared in his eyes, my heart sunk into my gut. He made a suggestive gesture with his hand and my stomach twisted. “How about it? Our little secret,” he offered.

The nausea in my stomach immediately turned to anger. Clenching my fists, I jumped up to my feet. “No, you sick bastard. You’ll be in trouble for even offering—”

“Who’s going to find out?” he cut in quickly. “Are you planning on telling someone?”

“Of course!” I all but growled at him.

“Then you can kiss this job goodbye.”

My heart skipped a beat. Was he threatening to fire me? After his sexual advance? I fought to control my breathing. It wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t afford to lose this job. “I won’t tell anyone.” And I couldn’t help adding an, “asshole” to that.

He ignored my insult. “Good.”

Nodding, I kept my head down and headed for the door.

“Wait a moment, my dear.”

I’d never wanted to stab someone so much as I wanted to stab Zack right at the moment. “What?” I gritted out, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. At my sides, my hands flexed in and out of fists.

“Your new hours. Don’t you want to know them?”

“Yes,” I responded tersely, already dreading his answer.

“Tuesday, six to nine, Thursday, six to nine, and Sunday two to five.”

I whipped around to face him again, jaw slack. “What? That’s cutting half my hours—”

“Maybe you should learn to watch your mouth then.”

Anger surged over me again and I had to really fight the urge to punch him in the face. My hours had already been cut in half— if I punched him, he’d fire me for sure. And as much as I hated it, I couldn’t take that risk. Chest heaving, I turned back toward the door, bursting out without turning back. My hands grasped at the hem of my pea coat, clutching tightly as I took deep breaths. Tears were biting at my eyes, but I blinked furiously, holding them back. Panic was lurking in the back of my mind, but I was holding that off as well. At least until I was out of the public eye.

But my mind was racing and I couldn’t block out my thoughts. What the hell was I going to do now? With my new hours, that meant I’d be only making around seventy-four dollars a week, and that was before taxes. That plus the hundred fifty I made at the hospital totaled about two hundred and twenty dollars a week. And Jesus, that wasn’t enough to survive on. Not with groceries and gas and tuition bills and gas bills and heating bills and electricity bills and car payments—

I didn’t realize I’d walked into someone until I was landing on the hard tar of the parking lot (which meant I was outside, at least), hands scraping along the tiny layer of rock that covered it.

“Sorry,” I heard a familiar voice apologize. “Are you… Katie? Are you okay?”

Through watery eyes, I saw Will looking down at me in concern. Perfect. Just who I wanted to see me in this state. Why was fate so cruel? Clearing my throat, I wiped my eyes on the back of my sleeve. “I’m fine,” I tried to say, but my voice cracked. Swallowing, I nodded instead.

It was obvious Will didn’t believe me for a second. He held out a hand and swiftly pulled me to my feet. “What’s wrong?” he asked, putting a strong arm around my shoulder.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, taking in his warmth and solidness. It almost felt safe. And then I remembered safe was what I wasn’t, currently, because I wasn’t going to be able to pay my bills. “It’s nothing,” I said, because I couldn’t tell him about my situation.

“Katie.” His tone was disapproving.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to get away with just a nothing, I decided to tell him part of the truth. Not that part that was making me upset, but I had a feeling it would still get me a free pass. “My boss… he…” I swallowed, trying to steady my voice. “He tried to…” How could I phrase it? Zack hadn’t tried anything, he’d just implied it.

“Tried to what?” Will urged, arm tightening around me, his voice hard. “Did he hit you?”

“No,” I told Will, but I almost wished he had. That way I could’ve beaten the crap out of him in defense. “But he cut my hours, and then said he’d give them back to me if I… you know.” I gestured vaguely with my hands, as Zack had done.

Will went still beside me. “That douchebag,” he muttered. “Where do you work? I’ll go give him a piece of my mind. And a piece of my fist—”

“No!” I interjected quickly, glancing up at him. “No, it’s fine. I have it handled. It’s fine.”

“Katie, you can’t let him get away with that,” he told me, his blue eyes holding concern, but concealing anger. “That kind of asshole needs to be put in his place. You can’t take advantage of your employees like that!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve sent a e-mail to management.” The lie slid easily off my lips. Which was weird, because I was a crappy liar.

Will calmed down a bit at that, but still looked unhappy. “I still want to punch him... So, you work at the mall?” he asked and I was grateful for the change of subject.

“Cinema. Cleaning up.”

“That sounds shitty.”

I laughed quietly. “That about sums it up.”

“But I thought you mentioned having a job at the hospital?” he inquired, tilting his head to the side a little. Which was adorable.

“Er, I did?”

He nodded. “Yeah, a few weeks back.”

“Oh. Yeah, I work there too.” It was surprising how much attention Will paid when I spoke to him. I tended to shy away from my life when talking to him, so the hospital thing must have been a one-time slip, yet he still remembered it. “Nights. This was my day job after classes.”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Why do you have two jobs?”

To afford all the bills I have to pay, but it doesn’t seem to be working now. The thought hit me like a freight train and my heart wrenched painfully. As a trigger reaction, my eyes started to water again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask,” Will said immediately, squeezing my shoulder. “It’s personal.”

“Yeah, um, sorry. It’s just been a bad day.” Well, it had been a good day. Up until about twenty minutes ago.

Will nodded. “How about you come down to the shop? Matt’s working again. He’ll be excited to see you. I’ll make you up something special too.”

I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment, hesitating. As tempting as the offer seemed, I needed to go home and figure out my financial status. There was a little money saved up, but I wasn’t sure how long it would last. I might have to drop some classes, which meant I wouldn’t be able to get my degree…

“Yeah, you should definitely come down. You look like you might fall apart.”

“What? People actually describe other people that way?” I said, mildly surprised. He smiled a sad smile and I gave in, dropping my head. “Yeah, I could use a cup of coffee.”

He brightened, steering me away from the mall building. “Great. Why don’t you follow me back then? We just updated our specialties. I have a feeling you’ll love our Eiskaffee. It’s German. Ice cream coffee.”

Anything with ice cream in it was right up my ally. “Sounds good.”

I was about halfway to the shop when I realized Will most likely went to the mall to buy something, and left with me without getting it. The warm feeling spread in my chest again and I smiled wide, momentarily forgetting about that which had just transpired.

“Well look who the cat dragged in,” Matt said as Will and I trudged through the front entrance. “And he picked up a stray!”

I half-smiled at him. “Hey, Matt.”

“I’ll go make your drink,” Will told me, his hand brushing across my shoulders before he slipped away.

“You really do come in here often, don’t you?” Matt commented thoughtfully, crossing his arms. “No wonder you’re so short.”

“I started drinking coffee after I stopped growing,” I responded, having a seat at the bar instead of my usual table. The shop was completely empty, so I figured it didn’t matter.

Matt grinned. “Smart girl. Too bad you still got the short genes.”

“I’m not that short!”

“You’re definitely short. It’s okay though, because you’re cute. Very cute. In fact, definitely my type, so why don’t we go on a date— ow!” Holding his head, he scowled at his brother, rubbing at the spot where Will had slapped him. “What?”

Will gave him a disapproving look. “You’ve asked her out every day for the past week and a half. Starting the day after you met her. I think you should catch the drift of no.”

Matt turned his nose up. “She doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Nope, I don’t,” I told Will honestly, a silly grin on my face. “It’s been the most I’ve been asked out in a long time.”

“See?”

Will sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “You two are weird.”

“D’aw, you’re just jealous, aren’t you William?” Matt cooed, taking his brother into a headlock and giving him a noogie. “You want her all to yourself, don’t you?”

After a week and a half of knowing Matt, I’d finally got used to him teasing Will by using me as incentive. So now, instead of flustering about when he claimed we’re flirting or what not, I laughed.

“Get off me!” Will cried, shoving his brother away from him, and straightening out his shirt. “Jesus, you’re annoying.”

Matt batted his eyelashes at him. “But you love me.”

“Go do stock in the back.”

“What? But—”

“Do it.”

After moping for another moment, Matt finally relented and shuffled off into the back room. Will slid my coffee over and leant on the counter across from me, concern on his face. I knew what he was about to say before he said it. “Maybe you should quit you’re job.”

I barely held back a sigh. “I can’t, Will.”

“Why not?”

“It’s… private.”

His eyebrows pinched together. “I understand that, but I don’t see why you can’t find a more suitable job. Perhaps one without a douchebag boss?”

I smiled half-heartedly. “I can look, but I still need the work right now. Thanks for the worry though. I’ll just stay away from the office.”

“If he ever threatens you, you tell me okay? I don’t care what about. But promise me you’ll let me know.”

“I don’t want to bother you—”

Will snorted. “That’s not bothering me, Katie. It would bother me more if you didn’t tell me and something happens. You can rely on me.”

For a moment I stayed quiet because as much as I wanted to rely on him, it was hard. Trust from me didn’t come easy. It used to, but not after my father. Not after what I’d gone through. And it was unfair to Will, but I couldn’t trust him yet. I wanted to, but it was too early. Our friendship was still too new. “Thanks,” I said finally, because it was all I could say.

“No problem. I’ll be happy to beat that guy up.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You sure you won’t be beat up? He’s pretty big.” Which was true. Zack was big, but fat big, not muscle big. Will wouldn’t have a problem.

Grinning, Will nodded, flexing his biceps. His impressive biceps. “It’s not like I never went to the gym when I was younger. I can hold my own in a fight pretty well.”

“So you’ve fought before?”

His smile dropped, his expression becoming closed off and defensive. “I didn’t say that.”

Although he was so guarded, I was still curious. So I didn’t drop it. “Really? Because you’re friends in here the other day? They seemed like the fighting type to me. And if you guys are friends as you say…”

“It’s nothing, Katie,” Will said shortly, sapphire eyes narrowing. “I was joking.”

“And I suppose you want me to believe you got that scar your wrist from cooking pancakes?”

Will jerked his right hand back, unable to cover his scar because he had his sleeves rolled up again. “I told you—”

“Yeah, a burn, but—”

“Katie,” Will pleaded, “drop it.”

My voice faltered in my throat and I closed my mouth, nodding mutely. Right. How could I be so ignorant? Obviously he didn’t want to talk about it, and it wasn’t my business. So even though he was obviously lying to me about it, I wouldn’t press it.

Even though curiosity might kill me.

“Sorry,” I finally apologized, slumping my shoulders. “I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine,” he told me, offering a cute little crooked smile. “It’s just not something I like talking about.”

I smiled back at him. “I can understand that.”

“I know you do,” he responded with a chuckle. “Everyone has their secrets, right?”

“Right,” I agreed.

He nodded. “Then now that we’ve got that settled, you should try the Red Velvet cake. Matt made it, so I don’t want to be the one to taste test it.”

“So you want me to risk my life?”

“That’s about right,” he said with another grin.

I sighed. “I suppose since I’m your best customer, I should.”

“Best customer?” Will murmured thoughtfully. “That sounds about right. I’ll miss you if you die.”

I smiled at him dryly. “Thanks.”

He laughed, gesturing for me to go behind the counter. “Tell you what, I’ll try it with you, and if we go out, we go out like Romeo and Juliet. Sound good?”

“Sounds good.”