One day, I’d decided I was tired of being the weird bookworm without a dad. So I’d turned my introverted-ness into cold, cool distance. I stopped reading books in public. I held eye contact with people who intimidated me so nobody ever thought they were the alpha over me. And I brushed everything off. Every insult, every underhanded comment, every inappropriate suggestion from boys I went to high school with, to college idiots not yet men, to the douchey guys who came in here and got drunk and tried to hit on me.
“I’m not deflecting,” I insisted. “I’m just not in the mood to share every single detail of my personal life with my boss.”
He leaned forward, bringing us closer together. “The Ice Queen strikes again.”
I gasped like he’d slapped me. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He raised an eyebrow and stared at me. I folded my arms over my chest and refused to back down. Finally, he said, “Just so we’re clear, because I wouldn’t want to be misrepresented in your extensive Charlie English file, if I ask you a personal question, it’s not because I also have an Ada Kelly file. It’s just a question. Because I care about the answer. And you are welcome to give me as much or as little explanation as you want. That’s your prerogative. But I will never use that information against you, Ada.”
After all that food, I was suddenly gasping for breath again. “I didn’t... I don’t have a—”
“I’m going to open the doors.”
As soon as his back was to me, I grabbed my plate and took off for the kitchen. I knew it made me look like a coward. And I hated being the loser in this particular standoff. But... but...
I bypassed the kitchen and slipped into the bathroom, dirty plate and all. It was miraculously empty. And so no one saw the single tear that slipped down the side of my face.If I ask you a personal question, it’s not because I also have an Ada Kelly file. It’s just a question. Because I care about the answer.No. He cannot be nice to me. I couldn’t deal with Charlie being kind and thoughtful and... insightful. Ninety-Nine Percent Ada was not at her fighting best. And all that warmth and tenderness was dangerous for Reckless Ada.
Too dangerous.
What a fucking day.
five
Another end of shift.Another exhausting night. Another overwhelmingly busy dining room. We’d been through so much alcohol tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if every single adult in Durham had a hangover tomorrow morning.
It wasn’t just the full moon, but that summer was in full swing. And God, I loved that. I loved the nightlife culture and the way people loved going out when the weather got warm. But also, the only way my feet might feel better was to cut them off completely.Because owie!
Will and Charlie were behind the bar cleaning up. Ally didn’t need a ride tonight. But I would have bet anything that was because Will was around. He might not routinely shout at everyone anymore, but he was still intimidating.
I had just finished ticking off one of my many checklists and decided that was probably enough for today. Sure, there was a hell of a lot of work to do—but there always was. I’d reached some kind of mental limit, and tomorrow was my day off. So whatever was left to do could wait until Monday.
Case and Joey were still in the kitchen, so I just had to wait for them to finish up and then I was gone.
Will noticed me lounging at a high top with my bare feet propped up on the chair next to me. “Long night, Ade?”
“The longest,” I said around a yawn. “Made some good money tip-wise, though.”
He seemed to think about something as soon as I mentioned tips. “You know, if we move forward with the second location, we wouldn’t have you continue to wait tables. These days would be over.”
I smiled blearily. He’d actually been promising me that since I started. I didn’t believe him anymore. Not that I thought he was keeping me on the floor maliciously. I was just good at my job. And with all the problems we’d had with finding reliable waitstaff over the years, at least I could always count on myself.
Besides, the tips were always worth it.
Things had been marginally better recently. The staff situation was stabilizing. But it wasn’t like I had a deep roster to pull from yet.
“I’m serious,” Will reiterated.
“I appreciate that,” I said, laughing. I sounded a little hysterical, but Will didn’t push me.
After a few more minutes, Will said his goodbyes. Lola had texted him, wondering what was taking so long, and he flew out of there like the building was on fire. Charlie and I watched him go in mild fascination.
“He’s apparently been summoned,” Charlie said dryly.
“Apparently.”
There were a couple of beats of silence when he was clearly thinking about his brother’s weird behavior. Then he asked, “Do you ever picture yourself being that whipped? Like he left all the fucking lemons out.” He looked around at where Will had been working. “He didn’t clean up any of his shit. This can’t be normal.”
He made a good point. But then, I’d been observing this whole thing called love up close and personal for two years now. Shane was obsessed with Adleigh in the most adorable way. It wasn’t that he was whipped. It was that he loved her so much, he prioritized their relationship, her needs,herover everything else.
