Page 27 of Stay this Christmas
He looked up at the waitress with nothing but politeness, as though ignorant of her scowl over his late arrival. “Hi. Could you give us a minute, please?”
She raised her eyebrows but wandered away as asked. The little audience I’d collected during the pity meal offer went back to their own conversations, leaving me and my unexpected companion to ourselves.
He leaned closer across the table. “You looked like you were thinking about burning this place down if she didn’t stop offering you free food.”
I leaned closer, too, dropping my voice to a hiss. “What are you doing here?”
He raised a finger. “I believe the proper phrasing is,What are you doing a meeting here?”
Annoyance tried to kick into gear, but a laugh bubbled out of me instead. Much better than feeling sorry for myself because I apparently didn’t even rate an in-person break up from Travis.
“If you really don’t want me to stay, you can always fake break up with me. I’ll walk away crying and really sell it. You would look pretty badass if you did, I admit.” A hint of fear shone in his eyes, his expression just slightly apologetic. “Unless someone is going to turn up, after all, and I have to walk away looking like the fool that I am.”
My phone pinged in my purse, and I raised a finger indicating he should wait as I pulled it out, checking the notification. Speak of the no-show devil himself.
Travis: I think we both know this isn’t working out. Good luck in all you do. Best
Best? Who signed off a break up text withBest? Best stood out as a disingenuous closer in any context, but this crowned a whole new level of insincerity. I slipped my phone back into my purse and shoved it under the table by my feet.
Best. Right. Whatever.
“Yeah, he’s definitely not coming.”
“Sorry about that.”
I waved away his consolation. “Don’t be. I think he knew I was going to end things with him if he showed up. I guess he saved us both the hassle.”
Would have been nicer if he’d made that decision sometime before I wound up looking like a sad, lonely woman in the middle of Bella Italia, but at least it was done now. Mark it off my New-Me List.
Sam’s apologetic expression cleared. “You were going to end things?”
I debated the wisdom in telling him anything about Travis, but quickly saw I didn’t stand to lose much if I did. I hadn’t cared for Travis, and he hadn’t cared for me. No sob story there—really, barely even a story.
Our waitress returned, we placed our orders, and she walked away again, shooting daggers at Sam the whole way. I couldn’t tell if her unhappiness with him stemmed more from him making me wait, or because he had ruined the perfectly good spectacle of me getting stood up.
“There wasn’t much to end,” I said once she’d gone. “We weren’t serious.”
As evidenced by theBesttext and myWhateverresponse to it.
Sam nodded, a satisfied expression tugging at his mouth. “Good.”
Notgoing to think about what that meant, or the way my stomach dropped a touch, as if preparing to swoop. I still had a ban in effect on that whole thing. Absolutely no swooping over Sam.
I’d had forty-eight hours to process his apology for the way things had ended in high school. I’d turned his words over, examined them from every angle, scoured them for any hint of insincerity or a game, but found nothing. All signs pointed to a legitimately contrite Sam.
And me? I’d found myself willing to forgive. I’d been holding onto those hurts longer than anybody should. Pretty sure most twenty-eight-year-old women weren’t still dealing with getting dumped when they were teenagers. Long past time to let it go. I’d been mad at him for eleven years, and it hadn’t gotten me anywhere. Maybe putting it in my rearview would help me move forward.
Didn’t mean I was ready to get allswoopyover him, though.
“What are you doing here, really?”
“Picking up dinner for Georgia and me. That reminds me.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and shot off a text. “Just letting her know I’m going to be a little late.”
“You don’t have to stay if you had plans with your sister.”
“Oh, Harps. Nothing beats saving the day for you. I’m staying.”
I rolled my eyes. “You did not save the day. You made an uncomfortable situation slightly less uncomfortable.”
