“Table for two, Mads, please.” Just hearing Hutch call her by that nickname made me sick to my stomach. His grip on me tightened when I tried to untangle myself. “Stop fighting me because you’re doing this whether you want to or not,” he growled into my ear.
Madison led us over to an empty both, dropped the menus on the table, and walked off without saying another word. How she kept her job with that attitude, I’ll never know, but I suppose seeing her boyfriend with his ex, who she didn’t even know was back in town, might do that to a person. I sat down with a huff while I pouted like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum.
“Mature.” Hutch smirked as he sat down across from me. “Stop it,” he muttered loud enough for me to hear. He grabbed the menu, flipped through it, and then stopped to stare at me. “I’m not kidding, Jills, you’re acting like a spoiled brat.”
That only made me cross my arms over my chest. “Because you could have given me a heads-up.” I popped my jaw.
“Coffee?” Madison interrupted, batting her lashes as she turned to look at me with the fakest smile on her face. “You know, Jillian, I should actually thank you.”
“For?”
“Leaving, silly. I got this job because you didn’t take it after you said you would.” She flashed me a shit-eating grin. “Because of you, Hutch and I were able to meet here, fall in love, and well”—Madison placed her hand on his shoulder—“the rest is a perfect romance novel ending.” She turned to look at her boyfriend, but his wrath-filled eyes were glued to me.
A cold sweat broke out over my skin. Madison hadn’t told Hutch that until right now. It was like she had been waiting until this exact moment to do it. I watched the way his brown eyes flashed with confusion. “What?” He turned to look at her. “What are you talking about?”
A smile that could rival the joker’s spread across Madison’s face. “Oh, did you not know?” She tried to act surprised, but it wasn’t working. “Babe, you want blueberry pancakes, right?” No, no, he fucking didn’t share that with her. “What about you, Jill?” She turned back to me with a gleam in her eyes.
“Don’t try to change the subject, Mads.” Hutch’s nostrils flared.
“I’m not hungry.” I shot out of the booth before I could stop myself. “I...I have to go.” I pushed passed the patrons waiting to get inside, running as fast as I could into the warm sun and down onto the beach across the street, praying Hutch didn’t try to follow me because right now, I didn’t have the strength to fight him anymore.
I stumbled once I hit the sand and put my hands out to save myself from face planting. Luckily, I didn’t hurt anything, but figured since I was down, I might as well just stay there. I felt like a horrible, terrible person, and didn’t even care that the beach was crowded. I began sobbing as I thought about what I did. I thought that I was doing us both a favor, but in the end, I hurt us both. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there on the beach; only that once I was done, I felt exhausted. I was starving, and my head hurt from crying. I stood up, brushed the sand from my body, and figured I should head back home to get myself together. That’s when I felt a light tap on my shoulder and when I turned around, I came face to face with Knox Carson.
He gave me a shy smile. “Hey.” He ducked his head almost as if he was nervous. “I wasn’t sure if I should come over.” He looked good, tanned, and like maybe he, too, had been working out a lot. “Are you okay?” Knox’s brows dipped. “I saw you come running from the Egg, and you were crying...” His voice trailed off. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “No, don’t be sorry. I fucked this one up all on my own.” I tried to laugh it off, but it sounded weird. “You look good.” I tried to change the subject.
“You look like shit, Jill, are you eating in New York?” Leave it to Knox to be brutally honest. “Let me buy you a taco.” He pointed to the one and only Ocean View taco truck. “I won’t take no for an answer either because you can’t forget how amazing those bad boys are.” He flashed a smile and those dimples that first got me in high school appeared on his handsome face.
I nodded. “Alright, but just one,” I answered and followed him toward the food truck.
Chapter Twenty
Jillian
Ifinished off my secondtaco—I was starving, sue me—and wiped my mouth as I felt Knox’s blue eyes burning into me. “Say it.” I placed the napkin under my plate. “I know you want to, and you’ve never been one to hold back,” I reminded him.
