Page 108 of Hunt for the Roses
“Ugh, remind me never to agree to work out with you,” she grunts out.
“Lucky for me, I have so much on my mind I wasn’t even thinking about the physical pain,” I pant.
“Have you spoken to him?” Kate asks as she stands upright and stretches her quad.
I stand up with my hands on my hips and shake my head in response.
“Has he tried talking with you?” Kate asks.
I shrug. “Not really. I mean if you count talking through my door as trying.”
Kate switches to stretching her other quad. “Huh?”
I sigh before answering. “I was on the porch reading and he pulled up in his car. We saw each other, but I sought refuge in my house and completely ignored him.”
Kate lets her leg down and stares at me for a couple seconds before speaking. “I’m sorry, Ari.”
I shrug as I start walking, and Kate follows suit. “I’ve been through heartbreak before. I’m kind of immune to it at this point.”
Kate places a hand on my arm and stops me. “Ari, you can’t just chalk this up to being destined for heartbreak. If you really love Dane, you need to fight to be with him then.”
I pause before responding. “He can’t handle the fact that I’ve loved someone so strongly before him,” I say, and then throw my hands up as I continue to walk. “Why is this only falling on me? He has to work for this too.”
Kate looks forward as she speaks. “I agree that Dane does need to get out of his head,” Kate says, and then she turns to me as she’s walking. “But can’t you understand where he’s coming from a little?”
I purse my lips as I hang my head down. “That’s the problem. We’re at a stalemate.” I turn to look at Kate as I continue. “I can’t change my past. My past is with me forever.”
“But you can change the future. You control that.”
I stare at Kate for a solid moment, then face forward as I walk. We walk in silence for the next few minutes as I take in what Kate just said to me.
Does that kind of power live in me? Despite all the odds against me?
Maybe my past is tied to me, but it doesn’t have to define me.
I start to think of how sweet it would be to seek revenge on my misfortunes. How good it would feel to be able to take my life back.
To take my destiny back.
* * *
Later that night, I’m cooking dinner as I’m pan-frying cubed chicken breast and sweet peppers in teriyaki sauce. I was happy to see that Dane’s car was gone because I still can’t bring myself to speak with him.
Not yet.
Not until I know what I should say or do.
As I’m tossing the chicken and peppers in the wok with a spatula, I hear a knock on my door, and my heart instantly falls into the pit of my stomach thinking it’s Dane.
I slowly turn and tiptoe out of my kitchen to peek through the beveled glass of my front door, and if I thought I was nervous for Dane to be behind my front door, I’m even more anxious when I see who’s actually there.
Ronnie.
I swallow a nervous lump and turn the handle of my front door as I greet him with a blank expression. Everything that happened at Dad’s restaurant comes flashing through my mind, and I can’t help but feel infuriated as I look at him.Angerbecause he’s the catalyst for Dane and I being in the situation we’re in right now.
“Can we talk?” Ronnie says.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t really have much to say to you if I’m being honest.”
