Natalie laughed with mock glee. “Oh, you spunky little bitch, don’t you dare undermine me in front of my boyfriend! He doesn’t have to know that!”
Jared looked confused.
“Wait. Does this mean we’re having sex?”
Natalie and I shared a look again.
“And you say I’m the hopeless one,” I replied, shaking my head as I grabbed my keys.
As I closed the door behind myself, I heard her shout after me: “THAT’S IT, CLARA, I’M FUCKING HIM SIDEWAYS IN YOUR BED. BOOM.”
That’s why I was still grinning like an idiot as I sat down in the outside waiting area in front of the restaurant, even if there was a significant line in the lobby and an hour-long wait.
Dalton arrived on his motorcycle not more than a couple of minutes later, kicking down the stand and stepping free from his throttling ride. As he spotted me, he crossed the parking lot dressed in an ensemble of casual clothes, complemented by dress shoes and a sleek blazer that surprisingly worked with his outfit.
“You look… absolutely stunning,” he murmured, checking me out before glancing down at his own clothes. “Maybe I should have consulted you before I threw this on…”
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied warmly, standing up from my seat. “You look really good too, all things considered. Now, let’s grab ourselves a table. I put us down, but it’s… going to be a while.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” he smirked. “I called hours ago and set a reservation. We should have something ready in under five minutes.”
I admit it; I was just a little impressed.
We sat down together at an intimate table, and our waitress was over shortly to introduce herself and take our drink orders. I didn’t miss that she was having a hard time taking her eyes off of Dalton – especially as soon as he opened his mouth and let that rich accent pour out.
I wasn’t all that jealous. It was just a nice little reminder that, despite the complications of our lives, I was seated at dinner with one of the hottest guys around.
I ordered the blackened tilapia with steamed garlic vegetables, and Dalton requested the fish and chips with tentative anticipation. While we waited on the food, we made small talk, asking about homework assignments and expressing surprise at our psychology professor’s commitment to immediately presenting challenging assignments.
Despite how busy the place was, the ticket times were on point. We were just wrapping up our salads – a house salad for myself, and a Caesar salad for him – when the foodrunner stepped over, whipped open a tray rack, and began dispensing plates. I spotted other dishes on the tray; after ensuring that we were fine for the moment, he whisked them away, several tables down. I glanced over and spotted someone I hadn’t expected:
Jeremy.
We made eye contact briefly, and I instantly turned away. I’d almost completely forgotten about him by now, with Dalton’s presence in my life. What the fuck is my ex-boyfriend doing here? I cursed my vicious drop in luck.
Dalton seemed to notice that I was bothered, and his eyes slid over my shoulder. After a second, my heart collapsed in my chest as I realized why.
“Clara? Oh, I thought that was you!”
Jeremy was standing behind me. I stole a horrified glance up at him. He was still overly tanned, built broadly with a surfer’s body and a pair of glasses that previously made him look dignified and intelligent… but now only made him look like a creeper.
“Hullo,” Dalton smirked confidently. “You a friend of hers?”
Jeremy clasped his hand onto my shoulder, and I flinched. He laughed haughtily at my reaction before withdrawing his touch.
“Yes, this is my ex-girlfriend. I’m Jeremy, by the way. Sorry to interrupt, I just thought I’d swing by and catch up for a moment…”
“I’m afraid we’re kind of busy at the moment,” Dalton raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have to insist that this happen at another time.”
I made the mistake of turning back to Jeremy. His eyes burned down into mine, peering deep into me with that razor-sharp perception that he’d always had.
I always hated when he did that.
It made me feel like I couldn’t keep any secrets from him… because he always saw right through me, straight down into my core.
“Yes, yes, sorry to bother you on your, uh, date,” Jeremy smiled, although nothing in his eyes was grinning. “I just wanted to swing by and tell you that I’m glad you’ve moved on. You deserve to be happy. Why, after that nasty business before, I was afraid you’d never date again… but, that’s not my place.”
He turned to Dalton with a smug smile and shrugged. “Anyway, enjoy your meal. I’ll see you around, Clara.”
“No, you won’t,” I gritted my teeth.
“I think I will,” he promised quietly before turning on his heel and sauntering back to his table. I glanced over my shoulder at him, noticing that he never looked back.
I sensed Dalton stiffen up behind me.
“Okay… who the fuck was that?”
With an exasperated sigh, I turned back to him. “That’s my, uh, ex-boyfriend,” I replied. “We dated for just under two years. He’s not exactly a high point in my life.”
“How long ago did you two break up?”
“I’m not talking about this right now,” I told him, trying to keep the edge out of my voice.
Dalton silenced himself, staring at me with a mixture of surprise and irritation. I could already sense the night slipping away from me, and it was all thanks to that absolute asshole.
Why the fuck did he have to be here?
“You’ve lost your appetite,” Dalton observed, watching how I wasn’t touching my food. “It’s because of him, isn’t it?”
“I said I’m not talking about it,” I replied angrily. “But yeah. I’m not hungry anymore. Can we just go? I don’t want to be here.”
Dalton looked hurt, and I realized that it wasn’t Jeremy who was fucking up the night… it was me.
“Wait, no, I didn’t mean–”
Dalton was already getting the attention of our server, who had chosen that moment to pass by the table. “The check, if you’d please.”
“Oh, of course,” she replied, glancing at our plates. “Was everything alright? Do you two need boxes?”
“Everything’s fine, we’ve just had a change of plans. And yes, boxes would be grand.”
“Very well then,” the waitress nodded, subtly checking him out again before scampering off towards the nearest terminal.
“We can stay here,” I tried to backtrack. “I just… it was a knee-jerk reaction. Tonight doesn’t have to end like this. I’m sorry that I overreacted, it’s just that that guy–”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied dispassionately. “Anyway, the night’s not over. So what if dinner didn’t work out? We’ve still got the rest of the evening.”
“What’s… the rest of the evening?”
Dalton chuckled. “You’ll see.”
He paid the waitress as I boxed up our food. After we were done, he pulled me close and whispered into my ear: “Follow me.”
I did as I was told as he led me outside. Despite my best intentions, as we crossed towards the door, I couldn’t help but glance towards the bastard who’d thrown a kink into my entire evening.
Jeremy was watching me over a glass of wine, sipping quietly with a slight, mischievous smile on his face. There were a couple of other people with him – friends of his, who were all following me with their snarky, insidious gazes.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried my hardest to ignore the looming pit in my stomach.
“Alright, we’re not going too far from here” Dalton indicated once we’d stepped outside. “Like I said, just follow me. If a light cycle separates us, I’ll just pull over. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough,” I confirmed.
“Good,” he smirked. “Right this way…”
I climbed into my faithful old car as he mounted h
is motorcycle. Twisting the key in the ignition… nothing happened.
No. Not now. Don’t you dare do this now.
I gave it a few more twists. Silently, I prayed to whatever entities were listening, and vehemently cursed the car with each breath.
“Is everything alright?”
I looked up, and saw that Dalton was wandering back over. No, don’t embarrass me NOW, I rapidly thought to myself.
“Yeah, everything’s good! Car’s just giving me a little bit of trouble. I shouldn’t be any more than a few more seconds…”
He didn’t look convinced as he paused outside my door. Steeling myself, I put my energies into one final twist of the keys. Come on, you piece of shit car! Don’t fail me now! Surprisingly, it kicked into gear – just in time for me to spot Jeremy stepping outside to smoke a cigarette, his eyes somehow finding me with a glance.
Goddammit all to hell, I thought to myself.