Page 5 of The Vengeance You Crave
"Yes," she hisses. "And see if you can get Friday night off. It's gonna be a banging party, and I know a few guys who'll love you."
"Oh, no, no. I'm not—"
"I'm not setting you up, don't worry."
"It's fine. Just… just tell me they're not football players," I beg.
She studies me for a beat, one of her eyebrows lifting in curiosity.
"Some are, yeah. They're good guys though."
I can practically hear her silent question, but I speak before she gets a chance to ask.
"I'll take your word for it. Listen, thank you for today. I really appreciate you taking a chance on me, but I really need to head out."
"Work?"
"Yeah."
We quickly agree on a time to meet tomorrow and after Ella taps her number into my cell and calls herself to get mine, she leads me toward the parking lot.
Feeling much more positive about this fresh start than I did when I pulled up this morning, I head home to grab some food and check-in before heading to work.
* * *
I stare at myself in the mirror in the staff bathroom at the bar. I hated the dress code—if it can even be called that—from the moment I first stepped inside the building and saw the girls. I knew what to expect from the internet but still, seeing it in real life was entirely different.
But equally, I knew that if the manager would give me a chance that there was no way I was going to turn it down. People do much worse than show a bit of skin for extra tips. Hell, I could be doing a hell of a lot worse for it. But I draw the line here. The paycheck means I get to do fewer hours and hopefully continue with college.
Win-win—I hope.
But since seeinghimhere that night, I seem to spend all my time looking over my shoulder. He warned me that I wasn't getting away, yet, but by some miracle, I was able to slip out of the back door unnoticed at the end of my shift, which incidentally I spent at the other side of the bar so I didn't have to serve him again.
I lied to Bry, told him that Luca was an ex that I didn't want to be anywhere near, and thankfully, he allowed me to switch with another waitress for the rest of my shift.
Touching up my lip gloss, I tuck the loose strands of hair from my updo behind my ears and square my shoulders.
He's not been here since, much to my amazement. He seemed pretty adamant that night that he'd wanted something from me, but it was also clear from his glazed expression that he was drunk.
I convinced myself more each day when he didn't show his face that it was just the drink talking and that just like the day I confessed what I knew, that he didn't want anything to do with me anymore.
I'd hoped that when the time came, that if he turned his back on me once more that it wouldn't hurt as much as it did the first time. And while our time apart and the distance between us has softened the pain somewhat, knowing that what we once had has well and truly been severed, still sends a searing pain through my chest.
I thought Luca was the one. I truly thought we were going to live out everything we'd planned over the years. We were going to go to college, he was going to go into the NFL, we'd get married, have two kids, two dogs, and live happily ever after. We'd even chosen the style of house we wanted. The only thing we never pinned down was the location. Luca had a few top teams he was desperate to be signed by, but he was sensible enough back then to keep his options open. His dad, however, had other ideas and wanted him to follow in his footsteps and join the Atlanta Falcons. Luca was open to it, but he hadn't put all his eggs in one basket, or he hadn't back then. Everything could have changed now.
But two weeks from that night, and I'm still waiting—hoping—that he might show back up and follow through on his threats. I've lost count of how many times I've planned what I might say to him when we come face to face once more, but now that time is closer than ever, I'm questioning everything.
I want to believe that time's a healer and that we can move past what happened. I'm not stupid, I know we'll never have the kind of relationship we did when we were kids. What he did when he walked away from everything we had is something I'm not sure I'll ever truly forgive him for.
Shoving my purse into my locker, I tuck the key into my bra and head out.
He's not been back—at least not when I've been on shift—since that night, so I have no reason to think that he'll be here tonight.
3
Luca
I'm sitting at the island in the kitchen when the guys spill through the front door a few hours after our last class of the day.
