I jumped back, barely avoiding Kai and Nate as they rolled around the grass, throwing punches. Kai wasn't much of a fighter and Nate was kind of beating his ass. I yelled at them to stop, finally finding my voice again. When that didn't work, I tried pulling Nate off of Kai who had stopped fighting back and was just trying to block Nate's fists.

A crowd began to form around us, phones out to capture the whole thing. All I could think about was how bad it would look for Cake Me Up.

I tried again to break up the fight. Catching Nate's arm before he could slam his fist into Kai's face another time. "Stop, Nathaniel!"

He started to snatch away from me, doing a double take when I told him again to stop. The fight seemed to drain right out of him. He glanced down at Kai, then at the crowd that gathered to watch.

He quickly jumped up when two security guards cut through the crowd. "What's going on over here?" An older man with a shiny bald head asked.

"We're just messing around," Nate said, easily lying to man as if the stuff on Kai's face was just ketchup. "Right, man?" He held his hand out to Kai.

Kailand looked from Nate to security guards like he was trying to figure out of he should play along with Nate or rat him out. He let Nate help him up, which I was not expecting.

"Yeah, we're cool," Kai said stiffly to the guards, spitting blood from his mouth.

The two men looked skeptical, but they had to be over sixty and probably didn't want to deal with two teenage boys acting like idiots.

After the security guards went back to their posts, the crowds disbursed. Kai left too, but not before giving me the nastiest look ever. Like my presence made him physically ill.

He didn't have to say a word to turn the broken pieces of my heart into dust.

My heart wasn't the only thing wrecked. The table Kai jumped over was turned over, cookies were crushed, brownies were smashed. Everything was a mess.

A lump rose in my throat when I saw the ripped and crumpled Cake Me Up banner in the dirt.

Movement at the corner of my eye pulled my attention away. Nate was turning the table that had fell upright and began picking up the damaged baked goods.

The sight of him, still in that dumb shirt with the sleeves ripped off, turned what would've been tears into anger.

"What was the point of that?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nate separated the items that were only crushed from the ones that had come open and were full of grass and dirt into two different boxes. "That's what I'm wondering," he said, looking up at me from crouched position on the ground. He seemed completely unharmed while Kai's nose was probably broken. "Who was he anyway?"

I was taken aback by how clueless he was being. "I was talking about you! You stole my shirt and then ripped it."

"Your shirt?" He asked, brows raised.

Crap. How'd I let that slip? And so what if it wasn't my shirt, it wasn't his either. Yet, he ripped it up. Now it looked even worse with the collar being torn off, the neck of the shirt hanging awkwardly from being stretched out during the fight.

When I didn't say anything, he continued, "Why are you acting like it's my fault? I'm wasn't the one jumping over tables."

"Because you provoked him," I pointed out.

He huffed a laugh. "I provoked him?"

"Yes," I told him, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. "I'm surprised you don't get jumped on more often because I've wanted to hit you since the day we met."

He smirked, standing to his full height and looking down at me with amusement. "And what have I done to provoke you?"

He looked at me intently, his gaze locking onto mine and refusing to let go until I answered his question.

I thought of the first day he walked into Cake Me Up. How his eyes were glued to his game and how easily he turned on the charm and how quickly Aunt Mimi said yes to him.

Aside from the stuff with that Janae girl, he probably never had any issue getting what he wanted in life. He probably didn't have parents telling him he couldn't spend his life doing what made him happy.

And at that moment he was living the summer I wanted. Working at Cake Me Up and not even appreciating it like I would've.

That's what he'd done to piss me off enough to want to slap him. But I didn't dare say that out loud. Instead, I choose not to waste any more time on him. Turning to pick up more of the scattered sweets.

Nate didn't say anything else and when I heard his stupid game start up, I wanted to scream.

♡ ♡ ♡

Since most of the desserts were ruined there was no reason for us to keep the booth opened. Nate broke down the tables and I made the executive decision to hand out the treats that were smashed but otherwise edible for free to people leaving the concert.

I'd hoped that some of them would come by the shop at some point during the week, but I had my doubts.

Aunt Mimi decided to make an appearance at her own booth when it was time for us to go. I'd wanted to ask Nate where she went after she ignored two of my texts, but I was still ignoring his existence.

"Did we sell out?" She asked happily, her blue lip stick matched the night sky.

She looked so hopeful that it hurt knowing I'd have to tell her most of the inventory was in the trash and the rest was handed out for free. That definitely wouldn't prove to her that I could be her partner and work with her at Cake Me Up.

I swallowed my pride and the immature kid in me who wanted to point at Nate and scream it was all his fault.

"There was an incident, actually."

My eye shot up to Nate who was rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed as he recounted to fight to Aunt Mimi.

When he finished Aunt Mimi stood there, hands prayer style in front of her mouth and she wouldn't meet Nate's eyes. I knew my aunt well enough to know what was about to come next. Nate was about to get fired. And maybe, possibly, a small part of me kinda felt bad for him.

"Okay..." She walked around us, surveying what was left of the booth. All three tables were folded, we'd handed off the last smashed brownie as Aunt Mimi walked up. There was nothing to see except the trash bag we stuffed the Cake Me Up banners and ruined sweets.

Aunt Mimi whipped around to us, eyes wide. "Where's the collection box?"

The collection box? I hadn't seen it since we first set up the booth. The neon green, metal box could be spotted from Mars. How did we misplace it?

Nate cursed under his breath, pulling at his curls. "I'll pay it back. All off it. You can take it out of my paycheck. You can take my paychecks for the next two months. I—"

Aunt Mimi held up her palms, signaling for him to stop talking. "It's not the money, Nathaniel. It's...It doesn't matter," she said, waving the issue off like it was an annoying gnat and not her livelihood. "All that matters is that no one was hurt." She paused, focusing on Nate. "No one was hurt, right?"

He scratched his elbow, looking sheepish. "Not...permanently."

"Okay then," she said, clasping her hands together, trying hard to keep her cool. "Let's not mention this little incident to either of your parents. Pack up the car and let's get out of here before you cause any more trouble. Tomorrow we all take the day off to recharge and will revisit this again on Monday."

Nate grabbed all three folding tables, holding them over his head as he followed Aunt Mimi to her truck.

I hung back, trying to figure out what had just happened. He caused a fight, ruined half the inventory, the collection box was stolen and he wasn't fired?

After the tabled were secured in the back of Aunt Mimi's truck, she turned to me. "You need a ride home?"

"No, I'll walk." I didn't trust myself not say what was on my mind if I was in a car with her.

Her eyes widened. "It's dark."

"Not really," I pointed out. It was only seven, the sun hadn't even completely disappeared behind the horizon.

"Still, there are people stealing money and jumping on people over clothes." She turned to Nate, who was double checking that the tables weren't going to fall out of the truck bed. "You two are going the same way, walk together."

My cheeks went hot with embarrassment. She was treating me like a child. I was perfectly capable of getting home on my own. And Nate was last person I wanted with me.

Nate must've still been feeling guilty about the fight and the missing collection box because he was quick to accept the temporary role of my bodyguard.

"You don't actually have to walk with me," I told him as soon as Aunt Mimi drove off. "She won't know."

I started towards the exit on the other side of the park, following the flow of people who were also leaving. The concrete path winding through the middle of the park was filled with people pushing strollers, carrying coolers and chairs, sleeping toddlers and everything else they brought with them.

Some people gave Nate a doubletake, probably recognizing him from the fight. If Nate was bothered by the attention, he hid it well.

"I'm not taking any chances," he said, falling into step beside me. "Your aunt is already mad at me and I can't lose this job."

It seemed like as long as Aunt Mimi was involved with his mom, Nate's job was safe. I was pretty sure that was illegal or unethical or something. But I kept that too myself.

"It's not like she's going to drive back around to check up on us." A breeze blew by, reminding me that my shirt was still damp from the water fight and causing me to shiver.

I picked up pace, trying get home faster and to also lose Nate in the crowd. But he wasn't taking the hint, effortlessly keeping up with me.

"If you keep following me, I'll scream," I tried, since he wasn't catching on to my subtle hints. We had finally made it out of the park. The sidewalk less crowded since most people went to find their cars.

He snorted. "I live this way, too"

"Doesn't mean you have walk with me."

"You're kind of mean." He sounded more amused by that than anything.

I sighed loudly and tried walking a head of him again. He didn't attempt to catch up with me, but I could hear his Vans slapping the concrete behind me.

His comment about me being mean stuck with me. I wasn't mean. He was just annoying. People who just glided through life with little to no problems annoyed me. People who expected a yes were my favorite to say no to.

If it was up to me to show him that the sun didn't revolve around him, that people weren't just going to bend to his will because he had an attractive face and smile, then I'd gladly take the job.

I was so consumed with the idea of knocking Nate off his pedestal that I almost forgot he was behind me until he spoke.

"You want the shirt back?" He asked.

I'd already turned down my street, but I stopped to face him. That stupid, torn-up shirt. My answer should've been an easy no. There was no point in holding on to it. Kai didn't want it anymore, so that childish fantasy of him asking for it back and then realizing that he wanted me back was over.

I couldn't make the word come out. The sky was an inky purple then, so there wasn't much light shining on us. Plus, he was standing about four feet away, so I couldn't be entirely sure...but I think he almost looked sympathetic. While I stood there looking completely pathetic.

He pulled off the shirt, revealing the white tank he wore underneath it. He closed the gap between us, holding out the shirt to me.

I hated how quick my hand was to reach for it. I turned around just as quickly, that stupid, torn-up shirt held tightly in my fist and walked away.