Is he joking? He wantsrespect?
“You lost that when you canceled my birthday lunch so your secretary could ride you to the Georgia-Florida line.”
“Violet.”
“No, don’t tell me about showing respect when what you did strips you from deserving it.” My heart hurts from his betrayal. Some of my greatest memories as a child are because of him.
Why did he have to do this?
“I don’t even know how I’m looking at you right now.” My voice turns to a whisper and tears prick my eyes. “How could you? How can you look at yourself in the fucking mirror?”
For the first time since summer, guilt spreads on his face, but I won’t let that distract me from the hurt that has embedded itself inside me.
I toss my napkin on the table and prepare to bolt. “I hope the regret and guilt eat you up. I hope you never forget how much this hurts her because the day will come, and when it does, you’ll see how you’ve single-handedly dismantled your family and for what?”
I’m up out of my seat before the last words leave my mouth. Stunned and speechless, he stares as I grab my bag and push down the sob threatening to burst out.
I’ve never been this disrespectful to anyone. I’m not the kind of person who wounds people with words. He, along with mom, raised me to be well-mannered but he’s breached the gate. I can’t not say what’s on my mind. Myheart.
I’m in half a daze as I exit Alessandra’s. Tourist traffic works its way up and down the strip as I look down the block and consider my options. I don’t know how long it’ll take him to get up from that table or if he’ll stay and eat, but I don’t want to be here when he walks out.
I start walking, a gentle breeze coiling around me as I make it to the end of the block and turn left. Too in my thoughts, I don’t notice there’s another body there until my shoulder hits what feels like a boulder.
I rear back, ready to apologize. “I’m so s—Colson?” Blue eyes gaze down at me, and I can’t help but wonder why he’s standing next to me. “What are you doing here?” We need to stop running into each other like this.
He tucks his phone into his pocket. That must’ve been why he didn’t see me because he was looking down. Like he was when he walked in on me in the bathroom. “I’m looking for a mom-and-pop sporting goods store that’s supposed to be around the corner.”
“Oh.”
“What areyoudoing here?”
“I, uh…” I look over my shoulder, worried Dad might see me, but then remember I turned at the corner. “Just in the area.”
He smirks. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes?”
He doesn’t question me, just nods ahead of him. “Have you eaten?”
“No, actually.”
I haven’t because I bailed on lunch with my dad, who I caught having sex with his secretary on my birthday.
“Tell me what’s good around here.”
I fall in step next to him, grateful when we cross the intersection instead of heading back in the direction of Alessandra’s.
“Pretty much anything,” I tell him. The strip is full of eateries that put others in the area to shame. They’re all five-star and worth the waiting time and the money you pay.
“What are you hungry for?” I ask.
“I’ll eat anything.”
“There’s a good Thai place at the end down there,” I say, pointing down the strip. “There’s a pizza shop, a cute little bistro, a Mexican restaurant, but they’re mostly to-go. They don’t have a big area to sit and eat.”
“They have burritos?”
I smile, though it’s a far cry from what I’m capable of. “The best.”
