Work. The single word added another layer of dread to his dark mood and made his phone feel heavier in his pocket, weighing down his thoughts with the ignored text from Sabrina. A job offer.
Zane pushed into the store and snarled at the chime that echoed through the open room. He made his way past rows of wooden backlog cases and metal shelves full of toys and the latest comic editions. He slid onto an empty stool, behind the glass counter, and waited, jaw clenched.
Archer was arguing with a brunette about whether or not the DC Comics reboot was a bad thing for the franchise. The words sounded like an argument anyway. Their smiles said it was anything but. She looked familiar. One of the five billion people Zane had met in the last day or so. Victoria, maybe?
“Your friend needs you more than I do.” She gave Zane a smile. “His scowl will drive off customers.”
“I’m fine.”
“Right.” She pushed a dress wrapped in a dry-cleaning bag toward Archer. “I’ll be back later.”
As she left, Zane leaned against a shelf. “She’s cute.”
Archer hung the dress—it looked like a Renaissance recreation made of velvet—on a nearby rack. “She’s not Riley.”
Fuck. There was the conversation opener he needed. “That’s the point.”
“I take it you didn’t get a happy reunion.” Archer turned, using the counter to mirror Zane’s posture.
“Did you possibly forget to mention something?”
“I wouldn’t say I forgot. As far as I know, she hasn’t told anyone else. What makes you special?” Archer sighed. “Never mind. Forgot who I was talking to.”
Zane rubbed his face. “What in the entire history of anything that has ever happened between the two of you made you think proposing was a good idea?”
“You vanished, and things between Riley and me were going better than before. I know she’s got this vision ofhappily ever after. I figured maybe a ring was what was missing from the equation.”
“Except the one thing that hasn’t changed is she keeps dumping you.”
“Yeah—well—I get it now, but that’s not why you’re pissed.” Archer turned away at the sound of a chime, focusing his attention on the two teenagers who came in.
“Apparently more changed than I thought.” Zane didn’t want another fight.
“After all the time the two of you spent verbally jerking each other off, I’d figure things would be perfect between you.” Sarcasm hung heavy in Archer’s voice. “Or did one of you think that wouldn’t change anything?”
Betrayal rocked inside Zane. “She told you about that?” So much for keeping it between them. What he and Riley had done was no-strings stress relief, but he hadn’t expected her to think so little of it—and his friendship with Archer—that she’d... No.
Archer twisted his mouth. “Jen might have accidentally stumbled on an e-mail or two, when she was looking for something on Riley’s laptop.”
“You let your sister go through Riley’s email?” Zane kept his disgusted tone low. Even if half their friends already knew, no reason to let the teenagers in the back of the store in on it, too. “And you wonder why the two of you never work out.”
“You know what’s made my life a whole lot happier?” Archer adjusted his position when the two teens disappeared behind one of the shelves. “Realizing Riley’s all talk. She may be entertaining to hang out with, but she doesn’t know what she wants out of life or the people around her, except that she wants it all to conform to her fantasy utopia.”
Anger rushed through Zane. Archer had betrayed her trust, and was insulting her now?Is he doing any worse than you did earlier?Zane bristled at his mental question. “Really? You’re blaming her for your inability to move on?”
“I’ve moved on.” Archer tensed when the teenagers headed back toward the exit, one of them carrying a box with a bikini-clad figurine in it. “It’s funny how, for someone who doesn’t take sides, you always jump to her defense.”
“Whatever.” Zane pushed off the stool. A tiny part of him hoped the boys would bolt with the toy. Give him a justified confrontation. He couldn’t ignore his disappointment when they set it on a shelf near the front door, before leaving.
The two kids paused halfway out, and turned to watch the woman walking in. If she noticed, she never flinched. She looked at Archer and grinned.
She was cute. Pixie-like face framed by short, dark hair that had a bright red streak running through it.
“Hey.” Archer returned turned the smile. “How much of your stash do you want this week?” He let a lot of people pre-order things like special editions, but was generous about holding them until customers could pay. He had boxes under the counter and in the back room of comics and toys waiting for their unofficial layaway to end.
She stopped in front of the counter, and her gaze flicked to Zane, then a second time and her attention lingered. “I’ll take it all.”
“Does this mean you got the job? Am I wishing you farewell and best of luck?” Archer pulled a plastic bin from under the counter that held several books, and almost as many pieces of merchandise—a blanket, a T-shirt, a hat.