Kane lifted a palm. “Listen, I’m sorry, okay? It’s not a dare. I just… I saw you at that party last week, and I thought you were hot. So I found out who you were. Then I saw you again on Monday, and I thought—”
“You thought you'd use my dead sister as an opening to get my number and invite me on what I guess you hoped would turn into a date?” I said, voice dripping with scorn.
“Shit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It sounds bad when you say it like that. But I didn’t know what to say to you. I didn’t want to walk up to you for no reason.”
“You could’ve approached me and said literallyanythingthat wasn’t you pretending to know my sister, and it would’ve been fine,” I said, hands shaking with rage. “And yeah, it sounds bad, because itisbad. This is honestly the most fucked up thing that’s happened to me in a while, and believe me, somereallyfucked up stuff has happened lately. So the bar was already in hell.”
“I’m really sorry, Violet. Can we just—”
Before Kane could finish his sentence, I stood abruptly. “Usually I’d pay for my own stuff,” I said, gesturing to my half-eaten salad and empty glass. “But seeing as you’ve wasted my time, you can get the bill. And you can delete my number too.”
With that, I stormed out of the restaurant, ignoring Kane’s pleas for me to stay and talk. On my way out, I glanced over to see him frantically waving down a server, presumably so he could pay the bill and chase me out with more of his awful excuses.
I rolled my eyes and stepped onto the sidewalk, speedwalking toward the corner that led to the parking lot where I’d left my car. When I glanced at the window where I’d beensitting a moment ago, I saw Kane hurriedly leaving the booth and heading for the exit.
Ugh.
I picked up my pace, stepping around the corner and into the parking lot. It was huge, wrapping around the side of Revs and extending all the way to the back of the building. Overhead lights cast pools of yellow-white glow across the asphalt, but the spaces between them were dark, shadows stretching long in the night.
Most of the spots near the restaurant entrance were full, which was why I'd parked around the back earlier, tucked near the corner where the brick wall of the neighboring building met the back wall of Revs.
A moment later, I heard rapid footfall on the asphalt behind me. “Violet! Wait!” Kane called out. “Please!”
I whirled around, eyes narrowed. “Don’t follow me!” I snapped. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”
“Please,” he repeated, hurrying over to me. “Just let me start over.”
“Start over?” I said incredulously, brows shooting up. “How could I possibly forgive and forget this bullshit?”
He lifted a hand. “Look, I know I’m an asshole. But I just… I really wanted to get to know you, and I was willing to do anything. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Um,no? Not when the ‘anything’ you did involved you pretending to be friends with my dead sister to get close to me,” I snapped. “I mean, did youhonestlythink that would work?”
“Well…” He hesitated, eyes flickering with a hint of defiance. “It did work. Until you figured it out, that is.”
“That’s exactly my point. How did you think this would turn out in the end?” I said. “Even if I hadn’t figured out what you were up to tonight, and we ended up dating for a while, I’d still figure it out eventually, right? So what then? Did you think I’d be so enraptured with you by that point that I’d just let it go?”
He rubbed his jaw, lowering his gaze. “Uhh…”
“Oh.” Understanding dawned on me, and I shook my head with disgust. “You weren’t even trying to date me. You were just trying to sleep with me.”
“I—”
I cut him off. “Save it. I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth. You’re literally the slimiest asshole I’ve ever met.”
With that, I turned and stalked away, my footsteps echoing as I headed deeper into the lot.
“Hey, it was worth a shot, right?” Kane called out. “I figured you might give it up easy, just like that sister of yours.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. Then I turned back around, hands trembling with fury. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”
He stepped closer, lips twisting in a smirk. “I might not have known Calista, but I sure heard a lot about her. And you know what I heard the most? She was a total slut. Got passed around at parties every weekend.”
“Wow, so now you’re slut-shaming my dead sister,” I said, nostrils flaring. “Amazing seduction technique. Am I supposed to blow you now?”
He scoffed. “I know you’re being sarcastic, but if you’re even half as good at sucking cock as your sister supposedly was, then yeah, I’d love that.”
White-hot rage coursed through me like molten metal in my veins. Without thinking, I lifted my hand and slapped Kane right across the face.
