“So,” Myles says, shifting his weight, “are you ready to go?”
“What?”
“The dinner party.”
I raise a hand to my forehead. “That’s tonight?” With everything else that’s been going on, I’d totally forgotten about Claudia’s dinner party. “You’re actually here to take me to that thing?”
“Well, yeah. I said I would.”
“Yes, but you also said you were done with me, and since you’ve stopped working on the website, I assumed—”
“I haven’t stopped working on the website. It’s almost done, actually.”
“Oh,” I murmur, taken aback. “I just thought, after Bounce…”
“What?” His brow wrinkles, then smooths with realization. “No, Cat… I’d never ditch the site because of something like that. Whatever happens”—he gestures toward me vaguely—“the site will get done. You don’t have to worry about that.”
I blink, absorbing this information. Over the six days since I walked away from him at Bounce—and felt like complete and utter shit—I told myself I’d done the right thing, clinging to the fact that he’d ditched the website to console myself. But now as he’s standing here, dressed up and ready to take me to a dinner party I’d forgotten about, telling me he’s been hard at work all week even though we had a fight…
Emotion constricts my chest and I look down at the flowers. This is the problem with having such a faulty inner compass. I end up all over the map, lost.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and I glance up in surprise. “I should have been in touch.”
“I’m sorry too.” I think about our argument on the dance floor, and regret chews through me. I need to fix this. “Myles… what you said, at Bounce—you were right. I was freaking out, I just didn’t want to admit it.”
“Why?”
I swallow. “You know how I said I don’t date bartenders?”
“Yeah?”
“I never told you this, but… Mark was a bartender. He used to cheat on me with women from the bar.” I look away, feeling pathetic. When I finally let myself glance back at Myles, his jaw is like granite.
“Are you serious?”
I nod.
His eyes flare. “What an asshole.”
“Sometimes when I see you flirting at work, it reminds me…”
“Oh.” Understanding breaks over Myles’s face. “Right,” he says slowly. “That… explains a lot.”
“And I want you to know, I truly didn’t think you were going to be working that night, or I never would have had a date there. I didn’t mean to do it right in front of you, but… I go to Bounce for a reason. It’s the only place I feel safe, because a year ago…” I trail off, feeling the usual sense of unease I do when I think about this. Despite the fact that I never share this with anyone, there’s a tiny voice in my head saying,you can tell him.But I can’t coax the words up my throat, and when I see worry etch into his forehead, I have to glance away.
“A year ago…?” he prompts, taking a step closer.
“It’s… um…” Oof. This is harder than I thought.
Awkwardness settles over us while I fiddle with the flowers. The cellophane crinkles in my hands, filling the silence.
“Cat,” Myles says, gently taking the flowers from my hand and setting them aside. “What happened a year ago?”
I sigh, sinking back down into my chair. “It wasn’t a big deal. Just… some guy at a bar who got super handsy in a dark corner.” I shudder as the images rush back to me. “He shoved his hand up my dress, saying I owed him because he bought me a couple of drinks. I was trying to fight him off but he was big and we were down this corridor, alone. The only reason I got away is because some chick stumbled down the wrong corridor trying to find the bathroom and maced him in the face.” I realize my hands are trembling and I quickly sit on them, forcing myself to take a calming breath. I don’t replay this memory very often, because it just reminds me that there are really, really bad guys out there. “Anyway. That’s why I meet all my dates at Bounce now. I feel safe there.”
“Oh my God.” Myles sinks down to crouch in front of me. “Have you told anyone?”
“I told Cory and Geoff. Cory lost it and Geoff thought I needed therapy.” I attempt a laugh. “So, yeah… I don’t make a habit of telling people.”
