Page 67 of Insincerely Yours
“Apparently, foryou,it is.”
He sighs. “Believe it or not, I didn’t come back to town to annoy you.”
“No, that’s just a lovely little perk, right?” I don’t wait for a response, shoving a napkin holder in front of him and moving down the counter to restock the next. “What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at a dogfight or something?”
The jackass is evidently allergic to taking hints because he swivels off the barstool and follows after me. “I meant what I said last week, about making amends.”
When I just roll my eyes, this only seems to irritate him.
“We werekids, for fuck’s sake.” Any playfulness in his voice is gone, and the sound of it is enough to startle me. “Are you really going to hold a grudge about something that happened when we were fifteen? Neither of us handled it well; that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to move past it.”
“We?”A laugh bursts free from me, because…what the fuck? “Wedidn’t handle things well?”
Jase looks genuinely taken aback.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I know my voice is too loud, given my surroundings, but I don’t care anymore. “You’re seriously trying to pin the blame of this onme? I didn’t do anything to you. After the shit you pulled, I did as you clearly wanted. I left you alone! And how did you repay me? You threw me under the bus and just stood back to watch me get run over, repeatedly!”
“Seriously?” You’d think I just hit Jase with my car, because he looks hurt and confused and somehow likeI’mthe villain in this. “I never wanted that. I tried talking to you how many times, andyouignored me.”
“You confronted meoncein the middle of a crowded hall—”
“Hey.” Hands come around my waist from behind, and the gesture is a grounding one I desperately need. “Everything okay here?”
I look up and over my shoulder to see Reed…who is eyeing Jase with an expression that does everything but audibly growl. The guys here are protective, and I seriously couldn’t love them more for it.
Neither of my siblings was ever forced into getting a job since they had extracurriculars. I had still been trying to find one that best suited me, but Blythe ensured I never would. As soon as my Sophomore year started, she got me the job here at Castelli’s. With my social ineptitudes and constant anxiety attacks, working at a restaurant that employed scary, “disreputable” South Enders looked to be a recipe for disaster. Blythe had likely assumed I would come home crying at the end of my first shift, begging to never go back.
Well, the joke had been on her.
My stepmother may have set out to punish me, but unbeknownst to her at the time, she’d gifted me with a support system.
“I’m fine,” I whisper, patting Reed’s hand.
It looks like he wants to say something else, but Nico calls him back into the kitchen to deliver another order.
“Really, it’s okay,” I assure him. “Jase was just heading out.” I turn to the male in question at that last part, the coldness in my tone leaving nothing up for discussion.
Reed nods and heads to the kitchen, and whether Jase wants to continue this or not, he isn’t left with a choice. I’m at work. When a family of six enters, I grab a stack of menus and greet them once they’ve chosen a booth.
If I were a dog, my hackles would rise, because the voice that calls out from the entryway is the very one that haunts my worst nightmares.
They say time heals everything, but they’re wrong, because my scars are no longer scars.
They’re fresh wounds all over again, the stitches flimsy and haphazard.
“Rivers, my man!”
I swear, he’s even taller and more muscular than I remember.
I’ve been diligent in avoiding any news regarding the college football circuit, because the last thing I want is to see or hear abouthim.
Trent Easton.
He still has your standard Ivy League haircut, the blonde even lighter by days likely spent on the field or by the pool, and his fashion sense is the same degree of douchebag-ery I’ve come to expect. There’s nothing wrong with the fitted pastel dress shirt; the popped collar, on the other hand?
Gag.
And I’m sorry, but who wears matching deck shorts and shoes if you’re not on a boat or anywhere near the water?
