I know Easton isn’t judging me. He made an accurate observation based on my profession. Nothing more. Nothing less. But he’s right. As a fitness instructor, I do eat healthier. Healthy bodies are made in the kitchen. It’s true. But it’s not everything.
Living is more important to me than restricting myself from everything I enjoy. That’s what I’d imagine the makings of an unfulfilled life to look like.
Because life without this beloved chocolate and peanut butter combination? Sounds horrid.
“Sounds like your mom needs someone to put her in her place. That’s fucked up.”
I laugh, ushering Easton to the checkout counter. “Yeah, well, you get used to it. Eventually, tuning her out becomes easier than beating a dead horse.”
He stares at me without wavering, like he knowsexactlywhat I mean. “I get it. Still doesn’t make it right.”
Truth.
“You’re right. It doesn’t.”
My issues with my mother are far more than what the world sees from the outside. To my sister, Capri, I’m Mom’s favorite. When Capri separated from her ex-husband last year, before meeting Jones, my mom found every reason in the book to make Capri out to be the villain. The fuckwad cheated on her for the entirety of her marriage, making him the biggest villain of them all.
Capri has the purest of hearts, without so much as an ounce of evil in her body. So, making my mother’s motives seem passive was how she processed her manipulation.
I have never let Capri see how things are from my side.
It’s my job as her older sister to protect her.
But now’s not the time to remember the years that affected who I am today. Not when I have this kind man, now a friend, looking at me like he wants to take it all away.
Not sure that’s possible. So, I do whatever I can to create a distraction. It’s a skill I’ve mastered. I bury it.
“Come on, Ranger. Let’s walk back, and you can start by explaining that block of butter to me.”
Easton cocks his head in my direction. “Thought you were from the South, woman?”
Oh, he has so much to learn about me in so little time. Where should I start? But first, I wonder if they have a bank around here? I’ve got a fat check to deposit.
“You always carry around a five-thousand-dollar check in your pocket?” Easton asks as we exit the bank.
It feels dirty and invigorating all at the same time.
“Oh, all the time. Didn’t you know you were in the presence of wealth, Ranger Voss?”
“I really hate that nickname,” he tells me, tone dead serious.
“And you think I like being labeled a lost girl?” I counter.
“You are lost.”
I shift my attention to the side, locking eyes with him. “I am not.”
Following Easton into the little diner on the corner of Maple Street, we stand at the hostess station to be seated, and I wait for Easton to continue with his explanation.
There’s a big difference between the nicknames Ranger and lost girl. And I intend to find out why he assumes I’m so lost.
“You are. I can tell,” he says as we’re directed to a table. Easton leads the way because I can’t focus to save my life. I’m not sure I even recall taking a seat in the worn leather booth before badgering him again.
“Cut the shit, Easton. Explain.”
Suddenly, the menu in front of him drops as a loud bark escapes his lips. “The fuck?” he chuckles, and despite my need for explanation, I’m transfixed on his neatly trimmed stubble and full smile. “You’ve gotta be the most forward woman I’ve ever met.”
Jesus Christ, his teeth are perfect. White and straight with one small divot in the top left tooth. It adds the most unintentionalcharacter. “That’s what they all say.” I wave him off before the waitress approaches our table.
