Austin winces.
“I’d never just take from someone, do something to make somebody think I was a thief or anything, but I was desperate and from what I knew of Carly, I figured it’d be okay, that she’d tell me it was fine. I probably wouldn’t have even gone there if it was just Aiden. He wasn’t exactly the warmest boss I’ve ever had.”
Austin laughs.
“Though, he’s not exactly the coldest, either,” I say under my breath and only half hold back a smirk as I fiddle with my napkin.
Austin’s laugh goes even louder.
A pretty young blonde woman approaches the table. “I thought it was you,” she says. “But hearing that laugh, I knew it was.”
Her eyes are on Austin and his smile vanishes.
He looks like he’s seen a ghost.
“Hey Auz,” she says, and something about the way she says that has me sitting up straighter.
“Taylor,” he returns, looking like it physically pains him to say her name.
“What are you doing in New York?” she asks.
“I’m here for work,” he responds and sips his drink.
“You don’t live here again, do you?”
“No,” he says and sips his drink again. He offers nothing further and he’s being very cold with her. He obviously wants no part of this conversation.
“I heard a rumor about you, actually,” she says, after an awkward silence.
His eyes meet hers and his are now blazing with anger. “Of course you did.”
“So odd,” she continues, “You haven’t even crossed my mind in… well… years, and then I heard a rumor just the other day and now today – here you are. I heard you’re having a baby with your brother’s ex. Tell me that’s not true. You and Sienna?”
“Fuck off, Taylor.”
She rears back. “Whoa. Venomous.”
“You’re the one that’s poison, bitch. Back off.”
“Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your date?” she asks and laughs. She laughs in a way that has my face going red, because why is this so funny that I’m his date?
“You’re not worth her time,” is Austin’s reply.
“See you’ve got a type, huh?” she laughs and bends toward me. “Good luck measuring up.”
I’ve watched this exchange like a spectator and now I’ve just gone numb.
She looks like me. Or I look like her, I guess. If I were more polished and wore designer clothes. She looks a couple years older than me.
“Have a good night,” she says with a snicker and then she eyes me again, her eyes are dancing with laughter as she flips her hair and struts back to her table.
I stare at Austin who has wiped his mouth and thrown his napkin on his third slice of pizza that only has one bite out of it. She’s ruined his appetite.
“Do you wanna go?” I ask.
His eyes travel my face and they look just as irritated as they did a minute ago.
“Yeah,” he says and shoots a look over his shoulder where his eyes find Taylor’s table. She’s sitting there whispering with two other women who are looking at us.
I signal to our server for the check.
When she comes over with a box and the bill and helps me wrap up the rest of our extra-large pizza, Austin drops money on the table, gets up and takes the pizza box from her and heads out the door. He’s outside before I’ve got my purse over my shoulder.
I look back before leaving and see those three girls watching me, laughing.
Austin is standing outside with the pizza box when I get out and I’m almost surprised he didn’t just leave – he looked that angry.
His eyes hit mine and my heart skips a beat.
“Ex. College girlfriend. She’s one of the many reasons I fuckin’ hate New York.”
“You went to school here?” I ask as we head down the street.
He doesn’t take my hand this time.
“Yeah. For a semester. For her.”
“Oh.”
He shakes his head. “I graduated high school a year early and had my pick of colleges. Came here to follow her, she’s two years older than me. Friends with my brother’s crowd and I had a crush. Had me wrapped around her finger. Caught her with another guy while I was doin’ her homework.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t wanna talk about it. She has no place in my headspace. Said more than I wanted to say. Sorry she was a bitch to you.”
“Okay,” I say and do my best to keep up with him. He’s walking really fast.
“You didn’t ask me about what she said,” he says just before we get to the building.
“Yeah, well, I mean… um…”
“My life is really fucking complicated right now, like I told you.”
“Oh,” I whisper and my brain feels like I’d imagine it’d feel if I’d been hit in the face with a brick. Austin holds the door for me and I go inside.
“Hey guys,” Andrew greets and then his smile falls and he’s looking at me with concern. Austin’s face is still in melt-paint mode.