North & West

Eighteen

I was pleasantly surprised to find West waiting for me by the counter toward the end of my shift.

 I walked out of Gloria's small makeshift office and spotted West leaning against the counter, a bit of money in his hand. He was pressing the little bell beside the cash register repeatedly, the grin on his face growing when he spotted me heading over to him.

Just as I made my way over to the counter, Anthony came rushing out from his spot by the ticket booth. He scrambled behind the counter, taking the money from West's hand and asking him what he wanted.

“I'm in the mood for some blonde girl named North, you know anyone like that?” I could tell by West's voice that he was feeling particularly cheeky and I couldn't resist the urge to roll my eyes.

I slid behind the counter beside Anthony, taking the money from Anthony's hand and handing it back to West. West continued to grin, brushing his fingers against mine and grabbing my hand so that our hands would linger together.

“I know him. Sorry about that, Anthony. I'm sure you heard him ringing the bell from over at the booth.” I apologized, giving a pointed look to West.

I was trying to sound angry, or at least irritated, but it just didn't seem to be working for me. West's carefree attitude was too light and happy for me to even pretend to be angry. My voice only came out sounding sort of pitchy, almost as if I were holding in a laugh or some sort of strange sound.

Anthony took a step away from me, glancing between West and I with an almost wary look on his face. “Oh, I didn't know. Is he your boyfriend?”

West turned to look at me then, too, his eyebrows raised and that stupid contagious grin of his still as present as ever on his face.

I took a moment to think, weighing my options for answering in favor of what Anthony had asked or against, before I simply caught West's gaze and replied, “Something like that.”

It was as close to the truth as I could possibly get, seeing as West and I had never made anything official. We'd also never really denied that idea altogether, either, considering West and I had shared more than a few stolen moments, some rather heated and others intimate in a way that made me feel as though we'd somehow developed a temporary connection in those times.

“Well, I'll see you later then?” Anthony said, the words coming out more like a question than a statement. He turned to walk away, his hand brushing against mine in the goodbye he always did.

It wasn't anything touchy or intimate, as Anthony and I had just become good friends. Working near each other almost every shift we had had caused us to form some sort of bond, and if I were to be honest, I considered Anthony a brother of sorts.

He was sweet and he had a nerdy side that never failed to crack me up so much that I had to hold my sides to fight off the side stitches. Anthony made work fun for me, but judging by the look on West's face, he didn't seem to believe that that was all it was between Anthony and I.

When Anthony walked away, West immediately reached out and pulled me from behind the counter, his arm winding around my waist and pulling me to him.

His eyes were following Anthony as he walked away towards the ticket booth, and I didn't even try to stifle the laugh that escaped my mouth.

It was funny, really, the way that West was watching Anthony, almost as if he saw him as a potential enemy or some sort of threat. The male gender had always amused me with their need to participate in ridiculous competitions or claim their stake over things.

But, watching West watch Anthony with a rather stony look on his face, only caused me to laugh and admittedly feel a bit flattered.

West glanced down at me then, his arm tightening a bit as if he wanted to make sure that I was still standing against him. “What's so funny?”