Page 72 of Make You Mine

I called Momma, but it went straight to voicemail. This was the night she volunteered at the bingo hall. I wished I had someone to talk to. Calling Scott back was tempting, but I resisted the urge. That would only make my mood go from a zero to a negative twenty. I’d been dumped or rejected by two guys in the span of two weeks. And somehow, Jayce’s rejection was the worst.

It’s probably for the best, I told myself.Jayce is a dead man anyways. Better to not get involved with him before the Copperheads do something terrible.

The excuse was weak, and only left me feeling even more depressed about the situation.

I walked up main street and paused when the diner came into view. A white truck with a trash bag covering the driver-side window was parked out front. I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course he was here, becauseright herewas the most inconvenient place. The universe really knew how to pile on.

For a moment I considered my other options. Idefinitelydidn’t want to go to Flop’s, not after last night. The memory was still fresh in my head. The General Store might have food, but they had closed thirty minutes ago.

I started to turn around to walk back to the motel, then stopped. Men had immense power over my emotions. Scott could infuriate me with a brief phone call telling me he wanted me to pay for half the magazine spot, even though I had left over a week ago. With just a text message, Jayce could squeeze my soul into a little ball and toss it into the trash.

But I wasnotabout to let a man keep me from getting food.

I spent a moment collecting myself and then strode inside the diner.

Jayce was seated at one of the booths facing the entrance. He looked up when the doordinged, glanced back at his phone, then jerked his eyes up again. He gave me a weak little smile.

I passed him and sat at the next booth over, with my back to him. “Motel is out of burritos.” Then, feeling aloof, I added, “I worked up one heck of an appetite last night.”

He chuckled, which made the seat back we shared shake just a little bit. “Me too.” He paused and then added, “Did you, uh…”

“I got your text,” I said curtly. “I understand. I appreciate you being honest with me.”

Jayce cleared his throat and replied, “Good.”

I felt proud of myself for saying something reasonable. It probably helped that I didn’t have to look him in the eyes when I said it.

Mindy came over, looked at each of us, and then grumbled something under her breath about fools. She took Jayce’s order, then mine, and then we sat in silence while waiting for our food. Cell phones made it easy these days. A few dozen cat photos on Reddit later and I was feeling at least somewhat good about myself.

I wasn’t lying about having worked up an appetite last night. I wolfed down Mindy’s breakfast special and still had room for a slice of cheesecake. I told myself itwasbecause I’d burned a lot of calories last night and while pulling weeds today, and not because I was trying to eat my feelings.

I pushed aside the urge to order a second slice of cheesecake, gave Mindy my credit card, and waited for her to return. But when she did, she had a funny look on her face.

“Honey? It was rejected.”

“What?” I stared at her, confused. “I’ve been using it since I got here. Try it again.”

“Ran it three times.TechnicallyI’m supposed to take the card after three, but I ain’t got time to mess with VISA’s bullshit, so you can have it back.”

Why was my card declined? I’m nowhere near the limit.Mindy was still standing there, so I sifted through my pocket to look for cash.

“I got her,” Jayce said.

“You don’t have to do that. Mindy, I’ll be back tomorrow with my debit card…”

Jayce handed her a twenty. “This’ll cover both of us.” Mindy gave an awkward smile and then walked back to the register.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“You already said that. And it’s too late now.”

I sighed and twisted around in the booth. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to make up for dumping me via text message.”

He still faced away from me, but I could see the smile in the way his beard tightened. “Can’t dump someone you were never dating, can you, Peaches?”

“Feels like we’ve been on a week’s worth of dates,” I mumbled.

He rumbled with laughter. “It really does.”

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