Had he always been this full of bullshit? How did I miss it? “Whatever, Matt.” I pushed past him and kept walking.
“Wait.” He jogged the few steps to catch up, holding a piece of paper out toward me. “I want to be there for you, Ari. I want to make sure you make it. At least take my new number in case you change your mind.”
When I didn’t immediately accept it, he grabbed my hand, spreading my fingers so he could place the paper in my palm before closing them up again. “Let me do this for you. Please.”
I should have told him to fuck off and shredded his number, but if there was even a tiny chance he’d actually come through for once… I stuffed the paper in my pocket. “I have to get back to work.”
His gaze darted down to my pocket and his grin returned. “Just think about it. You, standing on the stage, singing your lungs out. It’s a chance for everything we dreamed about it.”
EverythingI’ddreamed about for as long as I could remember. Emotions that felt disturbingly like hope churned my stomach. I had to get out of there before I did something stupid like trusted Matt again.
I walked away again, determined to make this my last time.
“Be sure to call me by Tuesday!” Matt shouted. “Don’t throw this opportunity away because I fucked up!”
People were staring. I ducked into the restaurant and hurried into the kitchen, hoping Matt wouldn’t follow.
Harlow was clocking out as I clocked back in from my break. “You okay?” she asked.
Was I? The entire year I’d spent with Matt was an escape from reality. An escape from my failure as an artist and an adult. We drank, smoked weed, experimented with harder drugs, partied like nobody’s business… how could I trust a guy like that with my dream? I couldn’t. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to throw away his phone number, either.
“Ari?” Harlow asked, reminding me that I hadn’t answered her.
“Yeah.” I tied my apron back on. “I’m great, thanks.”
“You sure? I can stick around until your shift ends. Then we can go get a beer or something.”
The suggestion was sweet, but Bones would be showing up at the end of my shift, and I doubted he’d want to stay for a drink with me and my friend. “Nah, I’m good. Get out of here. Go have fun.”
She looked like she was going to argue, but finally shrugged. “Okay, but call me if you need me.”
Giving me a wave, she headed out and I returned to work.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Bones
MATT FUCKIN’ DETER.
I stared at my cell phone, willing it to be a lie, but the evidence was right in front of me. Moments ago, Tech had messaged me that his face recognition software had picked up something in the Pelican. He routed the feed to my phone and I watched as Matt talked to Ariana. He grabbed her hand, and Anger burned inside me. I was hoping she’d lay him out for touching her, but she didn’t.
Instead, she pocketed whatever he gave her.
What the fuck, Ari?
I couldn’t imagine why she’d give him the time of day, much less accept something from him. All he’d ever done was take from her, and from me. She knew that bastard owed me money and that I’d been looking for him.
She should have called me, but she didn’t.
That was what stung the most. Ariana walked away, back into the restaurant, and still my phone stayed silent. She had an opportunity to let me know he was there, but she chose not to. Instead, she protected the asshole who tried to kill her.
I used the next hour and a half to try to calm the fuck down before I picked her up, but was apparently unsuccessful, because the first thing she asked me was, “What’s wrong?”
So pissed I was ready to burst and not wanting to cause a scene, I promised we’d talk about it in the car and ushered her out of the Pelican. She strapped on her seatbelt and turned toward me expectantly, so I pulled up the video Tech had sent me and handed it over.
“So, what? You’re spying on me now?” she asked.
“No, I’m spying onhim. Our software pinged on his face and sent me the feed.” Which was mostly true. I’d just left out the detail of Tech, since nobody outside the family needed to know about him. “Imagine my surprise when I sawhimtalking toyou.”
