“Exactly. Be lucky I didn’t do just that.”
“Hopefully she’ll come around,” I say.
“Maybe. But if she doesn’t, it’s not on you. I know how you love to shoulder the blame. This is not one of those times. You did nothing wrong.”
My phone rings and I see Jayson’s name. “I think shit’s about to hit the fan,” Hailey says.
My voice is a bit throaty from the crying when I answer. “Hey.”
“Princess, what the fuck! Are you at school right now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m with the guys at Ruby’s. You’re on speaker. Please tell me what we just saw did not happen.”
Well, that was fast. Sometimes I hate cell phones. I say nothing, so Hailey pipes in. “Yes, it did. Since we’re on speaker - Ryder, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll deal with it.” I can hear the anger in his voice when he says it.
“We’re on our way, baby. Hales, take her back out to the car and wait for us.”
“On it.”
“I love you, baby. Everything’s going to be ok. Be there soon.”
“Ok.” He hangs up.
“Come on, sis. Let’s go wait for your boys.”
Jayson
I miss Liz this morning, but I understand. Maria is being a bitch to my girl by ignoring her and Liz wants to find out why.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” our waitress, Pauline, asks us.
“Could you bring a black coffee and a gluten-free cinnamon scone to go please?” I order Liz's favorites so I can take it to her. If she’s already eaten, she can save the scone for lunch. I know she’ll drink the coffee immediately.
“Sure can, hon. Be right back.”
Julien is sitting next to me today and Ryder is sitting across from me. “So hot topic for the day. I know you broke up with Maria and all, but what gives?”
“Wasn’t going anywhere. Broke up with her. End of story.”
Julien pours syrup over his French toast. “So why is she ghosting Liz?”
Ryder rubs his hand over his face and scratches his head. “Beats the hell out of me.”
“I thought things were going good with you two.” This from Julien whose mouth is full of food.
“I always thought she was a bit odd. Too loud and obnoxious for me,” I tell him. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
“What gives then? Did you cheat on her? She cheat on you? People usually don’t break up for no reason.”
“Of course I didn’t fucking cheat on her, Jay. You know me better than that, man.”
The waitress drops off my to-go order and Julien pays the check.
