An Unexpected Hunger by C. Rosa Page A

I yelled.
    “What promise, Alexa?” he yelled back.
    “That I wouldn’t get myself involved with a guy like you ever again! Okay? Guys like you mean nothing but gallons of Ben and Jerry’s and long nights crying like a mental patient.”
    I let out a breath of exhaustion, relieved when we pulled into the bar’s parking lot. “Plus, you’re my boss.”
    “Since when has that mattered to you?”
    The comment caught me so off guard that I did a double take, looking at him straight in his dark clouded eyes. I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Your. An. Asshole.”
    Before he had a chance to bring the car to a complete stop, I was hopping out.
    “Alexa!” he called.
    I slammed the car door shut and heard tires screech against the pavement. He peeled away, driving over the curb and down the road, disappearing for the rest of the night.
    * * *
    I had wondered all night whether Ricky was coming back to the bar to give me a ride home from work. It was just about midnight when he strolled in, completely ignoring me.
    “Are you giving me a ride home?” I asked him. He sat in his office chair, his baseball cap plopped down next to him.
    “Can’t. I’m going out, ” he said, without looking at me.
    Heidi strolled over and stood behind me, leaning against the door frame and crossing her arms across her ample chest.
    “I’m ready when you are,” she said to him.
    “Let’s go beautiful.” He got up from the chair, following her out of the door. I looked to Mia, my mouth hanging open. She shrugged her shoulders and offered to take me home. I didn’t bother waiting to call Ethan and pressed the SEND button as soon as we got in the car.
    “Sounds great,” I said. “Sunday is perfect.”
    “Oh, shit,” Mia whispered, teasingly. “His head is going to pop off his shoulders.”
    I shoved the phone in my purse, ignoring the text message from Ricky.
     
    Ricky: Did you get home okay?”
     
    “Unbelievable,” I muttered . I shut off my phone to thwart any attempt at texting him back.

Chapter 12
The Date
     
    MIA GAVE ME a ride to the mall earlier today to find something to wear for my date with Ethan. She helped me pick out a pale blue lightweight cotton dress that showed off a little more leg than I was used to.
    “If Ricky saw you wearing that he would flip the freak out,” she said.
    “What are you talking about?” I asked. “He’s barely said two words to me for days.”
    She laughed, insisting that I swung by the bar with Ethan before our date.
    “What is it with you?” I chuck led. “Are you trying to make my life more complicated?
    “I just think it would be good for him,” she shrugged.
    “For what?”
    “To be with a girl like you. Ever since you stood up for him in the fourth grade, he’s b een carrying this torch for you. You’re like his holy grail.”
    I offered her a nervous smile . I quickly changed the subject, trying to pretend like I didn’t know what she was talking about. But I remembered well. The memory was etched into my brain like a movie I’ve seen a hundred times. It was shortly after Ricky’s mom was diagnosed for the first time. She had been going through chemotherapy and had loss most of her hair. She had shown up to our winter concert with a beautiful scarf wrapped around her head. Some of the kids starting picking on Ricky, giving him a hard time about his balding mom. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes as he tried to walk away, staring at his mother across the room. I gave those kids a piece of my mind, grabbing Ricky’s hand and storming off with him.
    “Thanks,” he said to me, the smile finally returning to his face.
    “No problem,” I said.
    It wasn’t long after that when his mom’s cancer went into remission , and her hair grew back.
    B y the time we were at the register, Mia was going on about my brother and his problems with the baseball team. I half listened as I remembered the look on Ricky’s face after I had told him kissing him was a mistake. I