Page 103 of Tobias

I keep telling myself that, and each day it gets easier to believe. They aren’t similar in any way, and I shouldn’t compare them just because Brandon fucked me up. That’s unfair to Theo, and to everyone else in this world who is a good person. Brandon is fucked up; he isn’t a good person. That’s his problem, and it has nothing to do with me. I’m just a victim.

“How was your day?” Theo asks once we’re on the road. We have about forty-five minutes until we’re there.

“I had to do a tour around the facility today for the fire chief.”

“Oh?” Theo says with a raised brow. “That sounds important.”

“I suppose it was.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“I wasn’t, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s over now.”

I put my hand on his thigh and smile at him, hoping he forgets this conversation.

I haven’t told him that I work with my ex, and though he’s okay with my job dating people, he may not be okay with me hanging around Brandon, which is understandable and something I would have to respect, as much as I can, I guess.

I’m not around Brandon much and we don’t work directly together, but… should I tell Theo? For the sake of transparency, I think I should. It’s only fair to be honest with him about everything. I’m the one who said we needed to be honest and communicate. If I want to do this right, if I want it to be successful, I need to do this.

“Hey, so there’s something I want to tell you,” I say.

“Okay, go ahead.”

I take a breath before saying, “My ex, Brandon, the one I told you about?”

“The one you were in a long-term relationship with?”

“Yeah, that one.” I shift in my seat, growing nervous about having this conversation. I don’t want to upset him, and Idon’t want to cause issues between us, but worse than that, I don’t want to hide something from him.

“What about him?” His hands tighten on the steering wheel, which creaks quietly. I just barely hear it over the rock music coming from the speakers.

“His family owns the facility I work for. They own a few in the area and are moving into Oregon as well. It’s not a big deal, and I don’t see him much, but I wanted to be honest with you about it.”

He nods, his face not changing much. “But you see him sometimes?” he asks.

“Yeah, he’s around sometimes to check in, but that’s it.”

“Does it bother you when you see him?”

I appreciate him asking about my feelings on it rather than getting upset. At least, I don’t think he’s upset.

“I mean, he’s annoying, but it’s not like my heart is broken or I’m longing for us to give it another shot. I want nothing to do with him.”

“So, you wouldn’t get back together with him?”

“Absolutely not,” I say firmly.

Theo smiles at me, clasping our hands together. “Thank you for telling me.”

And I guess that’s that. It was that simple.

“Thank you for giving me a safe space to tell you.”

His smile grows and I fiddle with the radio as we make small talk the rest of the way there. Theo pulls into the valet, andthey take his car while we head inside. I give the host my name, and he leads us over to a table by the fountain.

Alejandro’s is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, and I’m sure I was only able to get reservations because it was for a Monday. I bet Friday and Saturday nights have months-long waiting lists.

“Have you been here before?” I ask.

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