Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and put a smile on my face. Then, I made my way to them. I was here to get Cullen, and spying on them was rude.

“I’m back. Where’s Cullen?” I said, announcing my arrival since neither of them had noticed.

Rio jerked his head around to see me. “That was fast,” he said, smiling as he set the basket down and walked over to me. “It’s done?” he asked.

I nodded. Yep, I quit my job, and you’re here, letting a pretty blonde flirt with you , I thought sourly.

No, I wasn’t going to let my head go there. They’d just been talking.

“Where’s Cullen?” I asked again.

“Oh, I’ll go get him,” the blonde said, and I looked over Rio’s shoulder to see her smiling in Rio’s direction. “He’s with Hazel,” she told me.

Then, she turned and sauntered off with an obvious sway of her hips, although Rio wasn’t looking at her leave. I guessed she had done that just in case he was watching.

“I can go get him,” I said.

Rio shook his head. “Vicky has got it,” he said and slid his hand around my waist to pull me close to him.

At the moment, I wasn’t feeling much like being close, but I went anyway.

“Gives me a minute to do this,” he said, then bent his head and covered my mouth with his.

Not kissing him back was impossible because I loved him and his kisses. However, I must have done something different because he stopped kissing me, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling me tighter against him.

“Nothing,” I replied with a smile I did not feel.

“Yes, there is. You’re stiff, and you normally melt right into me.”

I tried to relax, but it didn’t work.

“I’m fine,” I said, feeling frustrated.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” His voice sounded stern, as if he could demand an answer from me.

“Aunt Bryn!” Cullen called out my name, and I broke free of Rio to turn and smile at Cullen.

“Hey, buddy,” I said as he ran to hug me.

“I stocked apples with Hazel,” he said proudly.

“You can tell me all about it over burgers and fries,” I told him.

I stood back up and looked at the blonde who had brought Cullen to me and was not leaving Rio’s presence, it seemed. My mood was going from bad to worse real fast. I had to get out of here.

“Well, I’ll see you later. Thanks for keeping him, or thank Hazel for me,” I said and took Cullen’s hand to leave.

“Bryn,” Rio said my name.

I looked back at him. “Yes?”

“You’re just gonna leave?” he asked me, looking confused and hurt.

He did not get to be hurt. He had Blondie over there, ready to flirt with him, and he could smile at her all afternoon. I was the one who got to be hurt. Me. Not him. I didn’t flirt with guys. I didn’t smile and talk to other men like he was doing with this girl.

Okay, so I was doing what I’d said I wouldn’t do, but the more that girl stood there with him, the harder it was not to be jealous. He was looking at me, still waiting on an answer. My eyes shifted to the blonde, then back to him.

“Looks as if you have enough company,” I replied, then took Cullen’s hand and headed out to the car.

If that wasn’t a complete bitch thing to do, I didn’t know what was.

When had I become this person?

When you fell in love with a man who you were terrified of losing because he didn’t feel as strongly about you, that was when you became this person.

“I learned how to weigh the bananas and tell Hazel how much they weigh, so she could ring them up,” Cullen said, and I smiled down at him.

“That’s awesome, buddy!” I replied.

My chest felt tight, and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t like this. Normally, when I left Rio, we kissed, and I would have butterflies in my stomach. I missed that.

I was going to have lunch with Cullen, and I was not going to do it while on the verge of tears. I had to be stronger than this. After he was buckled in safely, we headed to the burger place.

We had just sat down at a table when Cullen’s eyes lit up, and he waved his hand. I turned to see Rio walking toward us. He came over and slid in beside Cullen and directly in front of me. His eyes locked on mine, and I glared back at him. I hadn’t invited him to lunch.

“Have you ordered yet?” he asked me.

“No, we just sat down!” Cullen told him.

Rio shot him a smile, then swung his gaze back to me. “Good. I’m starving.”

“We didn’t know you were coming too,” Cullen said and took the crayons the waitress had set on our table with the menus. “I want the cheeseburger, fries with cheese sauce, and a chocolate shake,” Cullen told me and then began coloring his paper menu.

“That sounds good to me,” Rio replied to him but didn’t stop looking at me.

I decided to break the staring contest and picked up the menu.

“You always get the bacon cheeseburger, medium, with no ketchup and a side of fries,” Rio said.

I knew what I always got, but right now, I wanted to look at the menu and not him. He continued to stare at me, and I went on ignoring him. I didn’t want to be mad at him. I wanted to look at his dimple that I loved so much.