“Excuse me while I use the restroom,” he says, halfway through his glass. He gets up but before walking away, he stops by my chair, grips my chin and leans down to kiss me. It’s gentlebut firm, his lips soft and tasting of the wine. It feels as if it goes on forever, so many unspoken words shared in just this kiss.
Everything will be okay.
We will figure this out.
At least, that’s how it feels until he’s ripped away from me—literally.
“What the fuck!”
I blink, confused about what just happened. It takes a few seconds for my brain to catch up with what my eyes are seeing. Elliot is a few feet away, frowning deeply, and standing way too close to me is Harrison.
Oh no.
Oh no, no, no.
“Harrison,” I say, getting to my feet. My whole body is already trembling.
“You shut your mouth,” he snaps at me.
“Donottalk to her that way,” Elliot says, moving toward us.
My eyes flick from him to Harrison to everyone in the restaurant who is staring at us…
“I’m sorry, but I need to ask you all to leave,” someone says. “Now.”
I look past Elliot to see a man who could be the manager. Likely is.
“I can’t fucking believe you,” Harrison says, shaking his head. “How dare you take advantage of her.”
“He wasn’t!” I say, stepping up to Harrison. “He didn’t.”
“Out now, or Iwillcall the cops!” the man says in a harsh whisper.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harrison says to me. “Let’s go.”
He grabs my hand, but I pull it away in just enough time for Angela to step around him.
“What are you doing?” she asks him, sounding almost disgusted.
“Last chance!” the man shouts.
Angela looks at her stepfather. “And you? There wasn’t another way to go about this?” She scoffs, turning to Harrison and grabbing his arm. “Let’s go.”
His eyes are on me, but I step away from him and move closer to Elliot.
Harrison scowls at me, disappointment on his face. Angela finally gets him moving. Before we leave, Elliot pulls out some bills from his wallet and drops them onto the table.
“My apologies,” he says to the man, and hands him a business card. “Please reach out to me about any damages.”
He puts his hand on my lower back and ushers me toward the front door. Each step is shakier than the last as I imagine Harrison out here, waiting for us. This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I’m sure even if Harrison had been told and not seen it, his reaction would have been very similar. I can see how walking in on it would be a shock.
We get outside, the chilly air caressing my skin. Thankfully there is no Harrison out here to come charging at us, and I’m grateful Angela was able to get him under control.
How dare he make a scene about me being out with someone while he’s here withher? He’s making a fuss about getting back with me, all the while he’s been with Angela? Did that ever stop? Knowing what I know about Harrison, probably not. He’s probably kept her on the back burner, waiting to see how things would go with me. What a pig.
The valet goes to retrieve Elliot’s car once he’s handed the ticket, and as we stand there waiting for it, Angela’s words pop back into my head.
“There wasn’t another way to go about this?”
