“I was planning to go to that restaurant tonight.” The words come out uncertain, like she wants to stop them but can’t.
“You’ve been going every day.”
“Have you been following me?” She frowns, but she smiles. It’s the smile I fell for at the gala. The slight curve of her lips with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes, like she is entertained and curious.
“Yes.”
“But I never saw you.”
“You didn’t want to see me. Besides, I have to confess that I’m still not good at accepting rejection.”
She opens her mouth, but I add, “Your rejection in particular.”
“What are you doing, Xander?”
It sounds like she is shutting down the opening, but it also sounds like a genuine question.
I’m trying to win you back.
“We’re going to eat our weight in pizza together,” I say instead.
She laughs, not yet with her usual abandon, but it’s a genuine laugh. It hits me in the chest with painful joy.
Fuck, I missed her laugh.
“Well, since I was going to go anyway...” There is some reluctance in her voice, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I bow. “My car awaits.”
She disappears and comes back with her huge bag. Fuck, I missed that clunky sack as much as her laugh.
“It’s not a date,” she warns.
It totally is a date. “Of course not.”
Shit, I’m lying the first ten minutes into my not-yet-confirmed second chance.
I always believed in the ends justifying the means and all of that… but with Cora, I learned it’s not always as effective as being honest.
But if it’s not a date for her, it is for me. Not the soundest logic, but I’m desperate.
We make our way to the restaurant in silence, filled with reminiscence and trepidation. Like it’s us, but it’s not. Like the betrayal caused damage that the distance deepened.
But I’m stubborn, and I refuse to accept that the time apart erased the good we used to share.
A short ride later, we arrive and find a table in the corner after the owner greets us.
“You know each other?” Cora asks.
“I’m a silent partner here.”
She snorts. “Of course you are.”
“He was going to close two years ago. It’s an honest, family restaurant, I couldn’t have the best pizza disappear.”
She smiles at me. “So you helped him.”
“So I helped him.”
