The Bucket List (A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE)

10. ALBANY

I rubbed the coffee stain a little harder with the wet end of a towel Kieran had handed me, but it only succeeded in making the shirt wetter. There was no way I was going to get the stain out with just water.

A soft knock on the door made me jump. Before I could answer, the door crept open and Kieran poked his head around the door. His eyes darted around and then locked on me standing in front of the basin.

He smiled as he entered the bathroom with a shirt in one hand. "I don't think this will fit you, but it's all I can find."

"Thank you," I muttered as I dropped the towel. "I don't care if it fits or not, as long as it's clean."

Kieran chuckled. "It was washed yesterday."

I returned his smile but it lasted only for a few seconds before it faded. What he said earlier was bugging me. He knew Crystal, but I hadn't seen him at the funeral.

With a slight nod, he turned and made his way to the door. I stopped him when he pulled it open, unable to keep the questions to myself.

"H-how did you know Crystal?"

Kieran hesitated and then slowly turned around to face me again. His hands clenched at his sides and his eyes avoided mine.

"I use to be her trainer. She showed me pictures of you whenever she could." His lips curled up at one side. "Crystal wanted to set you up on a date with me but—"

"I canceled last minute because I chickened out," I interrupted him. "She ignored me for two weeks after that."

He nodded. "She tried a few times again after that but I was too busy. How's she doing? She said that she was going away for some time when she came in to cancel her membership. I haven't seen her around either."

I could see it in his eyes that he was genuinely interested in my answer. My eyes dropped as tears burned them. Pain flashed through my chest and my lips started to tremble. An image of Crystal in the hospital bed filled my mind.

"I'm sorry," Kieran said, breaking me from my thoughts. "I didn't mean to stir up any painful memories. Did the two of you fight? From what she told me, I got the impression that the two of you are very close."

"Like sisters," I whispered. "She was my sister."

I blinked and turned my back to him as I delivered the news to him.

"Crystal. . .she died a few months ago."

Kieran was silent for so long that I thought he'd already left. I sucked in a sharp breath and jerked away when he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Albany, I'm very, very sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't make anything better," I told him. "Thank you for the shirt. I'll return it to you—"

"There's no need. You can keep it." There was no friendliness or sympathy in his voice—not like there was before.

My shoulders sagged when the door clicked closed behind him. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a few seconds before I turned away. I was getting sick and tired of staring at the lonely, sad girl day after day.

Crystal wouldn't have wanted me to mourn her, but I couldn't help it. It felt like I had lost a part of myself the moment her coffin was lowered into the ground.

***

The smell of freshly baked pancakes and cinnamon filled the shop. Since it had started raining, I figured it would be a good idea to make something people loved eating on rainy days. The only down to it was the fact that we've only had a number of twenty customers for the day, and still a lot of pancakes leftover.