Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jonah
Brunch with Vivian and Frankie is fun. Until it isn’t.
I feel kind of stupid. How did I not realize Vivian would have to move here for his dream job? Sure, he said it was remote. But this is Vivian. He lies. It’s his thing.
But the real reason I believed the lie was because I desperately wanted it to be true.
After excusing myself from the table, I head for the exit. The restaurant seemed fun and interesting before, but now it’s too loud. Too busy.
Vivian will be fine. He’ll get a ride from Frankie. His interview is less than an hour from now, so they can focus on that.
“Jonah, wait.”
I stop at the exit door and let Vivian catch up. I’m not in the mood to do this now. But if I don’t, he’ll just follow me. If anyone had asked me a week ago if Vivian was loyal, I would have laughed. He didn’t seem loyal to anything but himself and his clothes. But now I know better. And the last thing I want is for Vivian to give up on his dreams for me.
“Hey, can we talk?”
“You have your interview.” The words are said evenly and without judgment. I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t look at him. I can’t.
“Let’s go out to the truck.”
I nod and lead the way. But when we get to the truck, I hesitate. Are we talking out here?
Vivian jumps in the passenger seat and gives me a pointed look.
Fuck, I don’t want to do this. But I get in and shut the door.
“I’m so sorry, Jonah. I am.”
I nod. “I know.”
“Is that it?”
I finally look at him. “What do you want from me? I’m tired, okay? I got about four hours of sleep, and fuck, it’s been a stressful trip.”
Vivian stares at his hands, his lip trembling. How can someone look both fierce and vulnerable? He shrugs one shoulder. “The trip hasn’t been all bad.”
Even good things can be stressful. That’s something I learned quickly working for an event venue. We do mostly weddings, and brides are stressed as fuck on their happy day. But right now, I just want to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible.
“It had some pretty great moments.” I give him a smile because we did have a great time. And none of this is his fault. Well, except for the lying.
So, I start there. “You could have told me. There was no reason to lie.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Jonah.”
I stare at him. “Really?”
His jaw is set in that stubborn way that makes me want to kiss him. “I lied to my father. I have no qualms aboutthat.” He gives another shoulder shrug. “You were the one eavesdropping.”
This is why now isn’t a good time for this conversation. My defenses are down. But I can’t break down and beg him not to leave me. That never ends well.
I also shouldn’t find his inability to tell the truth endearing, but here we are. “You had plenty of time to say something. We were in this truck for over eight hours.”
He fiddles with his shirt. “I honestly didn’t think I’d get the job. I still probably won’t. But I wanted to see if I could. If I could do more than work as a stylist at Cassandra’s Cut and Curl. I wanted to prove my dad wrong.”
His words break through the numbness surrounding my heart. “Your dad is an asshole. You don’t need to prove he’s wrong. He is wrong.” My words seem loud in the cab of the truck.
