Page 131 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
We rode in silence.
* * *
Ridge took me to a Michelin-starred restaurant with white tablecloths, low lighting, and waiters in waistcoats. Fine dining, the atmosphere hushed. I kept staring at the menu, trying to figure out what to order. I didn’t want caviar or anything with truffle foam. I didn’t want sea urchins or insanely expensive Wagyu beef. I didn’t want anything on this menu, and I couldn’t believe Ridge would either.
I set the menu down. Ridge looked at me across the table.
“Do you come to places like this often?” I asked.
“You don’t see anything you like?” He lifted his chin and looked down his nose at me. So arrogant. So pompous. I’d never seen this side of Ridge, and I didn’t like it. “Do you want me to order for you?”
I stared at him.Who the hell are you?Oh, that’s right. He was a hotshot football player with a multi-million-dollar contract. I looked around the restaurant, at the chicly dressed people, at the light fixtures that looked like jellyfish suspended from the ceiling, and the espresso-colored walls. Across from us, two couples who appeared to be in their late thirties or early forties were sitting at a round table. The women were blonde and Botoxed, not a single wrinkle marred their skin. The men looked like Ken dolls. They wore fake smiles and designer clothes.
A waiter served them oysters on a half shell nestled in a bed of crushed ice. He poured white wine into their glasses while assuring them it was a bright, crisp Sauvignon Blanc that would go perfectly with the oysters.
This wasn’t us. We didn’t belong here. “Why did you bring me here, Ridge?”
“Are you uncomfortable, Evie?” He sat back in his velvet chair like a king on his throne. “How about I get you some champagne?”
I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to scream. Just barely. “I don’t want champagne. Who have you been hanging out with?”
“Girls who like champagne. Obviously,” he said with a short laugh.
“Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not that girl.”
“No, I guess not,” he said coolly. His eyes were so hard, and the whole mood was so shitty that I wondered why he’d planned this date when it was clear he didn’t want to be with me.
I took a sip of my water. It was sparkling, and I just wanted plain water. I cast around for something to say, but before I could come up with something, my eyes landed on the exit route. “Maybe I should call an Uber.”
“Yeah, why don’t you do that? Why don’t you run away?” His eyes narrowed on me. “Because that’s what you do best, isn’t it?”
And there it was. “I had to leave,” I said quietly, twisting the cloth napkin in my fingers. “You know that.”
“Yeah, maybe you did. But you didn’t have to leaveme. You walked away like I never meant anything to you.” His eyes locked on mine, and I saw the hurt. “Tell me, Evie… was I so easy to forget?”
Oh god.
My eyes filled with tears. I never used to cry so much, but that’s what happens when you let your guard down and stop shoving all your emotions deep inside. You felt itall.
I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him that he’d meant everything to me, but my throat was so clogged with emotion that I couldn’t get the words out.
He laughed bitterly. “Forget it, Evie. I don’t fucking care anymore.”
If you don’t care, why am I here?
But I didn’t ask the question because a waiter stopped at our table. I averted my head so he couldn’t see my face or the tears gathered in my eyes.
“Excuse me, sir. Are you ready to order?”
“We need more time,” Ridge said, and I could feel his eyes on me, burning a hole right through me.
“Of course. Would you care for an apéritif while you decide?”
“I said we need more time,” Ridge said through clenched teeth.
The waiter backed away, and Ridge stood up so abruptly he knocked into the table. Water sloshed onto the tablecloth, and the glasses rolled to the floor. They fell onto the dark plush carpet unharmed, but I reached for them, trying to restore order. Trying to dosomethingto clean up the mess we’d made.
“Leave it.” Ridge grabbed my hand, pulled me out of my seat, and threw some cash on the table. Then he dragged me out of the restaurant, past our surprised waiter and the hostess at the front. He tore open the front door, and we spilled onto the sidewalk.
