“Un-fucking-believable,” Nathan shouted, turning from me and tossing his hands in the air. He moved to the window, and I followed.
“Please stay,” I pleaded. “Pleasedon’t leave me, Nathan. I love you. You know I wouldn’t hurt you. I was doing—”
He held up one hand. “Don’t. Because you did. All those times I talked about how my parents were fighting, and you never said a fucking word. If you had, maybe there would have been something I could do to stop this. To save my mom from the embarrassment of catching them in the act.”
This felt like the last moment ofus, as if his climbing out that window would mark a point in our story when everything changed. Like when he kissed me that night on our walk home from the party. Except this time, it would undo the best thing in my life rather than begin it.
“Nathan, there was nothing you could do.”
“You’re right,” he fired back. “This is on you, Brenna. Iblameyou. I can’t have anyone else in my life who I can’t trust.”
Tears streamed down my face. I swiped at them, but they kept coming. I couldn’t keep up.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” I choked out. “I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
“Anything?” he asked, teetering on the bay window, about to leave the room. “Leave me alone.”
I moved toward him but stopped at the glare he sent my way.
“We’re done” were his only words before he left me.
15
NATHAN
Now
Brenna and I beatAllison to the café this morning, which wasn’t an accident.
Allison thought she could take charge because she knew the business better than we did. This morning, I’d remind her that she answered to us. The next three months would be difficult enough without battling this woman for power.
Allison pushed her sunglasses onto her head, pausing to survey the scene in front of her. Brenna behind the counter of the café, typing furiously on her phone. Me standing with my arms crossed in front of a whiteboard with a list of tasks written on it. Brenna’s focus remained on her phone, as it had since wegot in the car. She muttered clipped responses when necessary, clearly still upset about this morning’s argument over whether Derek was pursuing her.
I had no damn idea who she was giving her attention to, and I wasn’t about to ask.
“We have a lot to get done,” I said, gesturing at the to-do list. While Brenna was on her run, I’d gathered supplies and prepared for the day. “Today, we’ll make a plan.”
Allison quirked an eyebrow. “The boy wants to work.”
I huffed. “Don’t patronize me, Allison. I’m your boss now.”
She flung her bag onto the counter. “You dodged a bullet with this one,” she said to Brenna in a low voice. I heard her clearly, exactly as she intended. When she turned back to me, she wore a smug smile. “Well, go on. It sounds like you have a little presentation for us.”
I gritted my teeth so hard it hurt. Part of me wanted to tell her to get lost, but Brenna and I needed her to reopen quickly and earn revenue. We couldn’t afford to keep this place afloat without income, and we had no idea when we’d find a viable buyer.
Brenna continued staring at her phone, not paying attention to us. My morning had been positive before Derek showed up. My shoulder held up during strengthening exercises, enough that I decided to try pitching for the first time since the season ended. I held onto that victory now to keep me grounded.
“We need to get this place open, so we’ll tackle the tasks necessary for that first. Once we’re up and running, we can work on the other improvements.”
“Other improvements?” Allison repeated. “Because you plan to sell?”
I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans, avoiding Brenna’s gaze. “It hasn’t been decided.”
Not a lie, exactly. Brenna and I agreed to sell, but we didn’t have any buyers sotechnically, plans to sell weren’t final. If Allison knew we’d only given her a job until the two of us could peddle the business, she wouldn’t want to help us.
Allison huffed out a breath, but before she could spit another retort, Brenna asked, “What do you need me to do?”
She was asking me for direction? What the hell was going on with her today?
