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I lost the battle not to reach for her, but she pushed my hands away.
“It had to have been Colette. She’ll be angry as hell at you for going to my father. She’ll know it was you. She’s also manipulative enough to figure out that fucking up our relationship is better payback than simply getting your mom fired.”
She rolled her eyes, her cheeks staining red with anger and hurt.
“Now it’s my turn to tell you not to touch me, Beckett.”
“Evie—“
She was so angry, she was vibrating with it. I wanted to reach for her and grab her, carry her away somewhere she would listen to me apologize a hundred times until she showed mercy. I wanted to kneel and beg and plead. The ring was still in my pocket. The Cinderella ring. Should I give it to her now? Show her how damn serious I was? All I knew was that I had to show her I was sorry. I had to make it up to her.
“No! NoEvie,” she cut through my panic with her furious voice.
“I never got your mom fired – please believe me.”
She pondered my words a moment, and then gave me a vicious smirk. “How about I give you the benefit of the doubt?” She stepped back and gripped the door. “Just like you gave me. Have a nice life, Anderson.”
And with that, she slammed the door in my face.
Eve
The weekend passed quietly,and I hung out with Lily a lot at her parents’ house. There was such comfort in leaning into our old routines, and besides, being distracted helped me to not stare obsessively at my phone.
Instead, on Monday, I got up extra early and took the bus so I could visit the coffee shop before class. HHU was quiet at this time. Most students who lived on campus would get up last minute and rush to class. I no longer had that luxury.
I was just about to order when someone spoke over me.
“She’ll take an oat milk vanilla latte with an extra shot, and I’ll take an Americano.”
I kept my eyes on the barista and resisted the urge to glance at the looming presence right beside me. “No, actually, I will take a cappuccino, and I don’t care what he wants. We aren’t together.”
The barista glanced between us, conflicted.
“Do you want chocolate powder on your cappuccino?”
“Yes, she loves chocolate,” Beckett interrupted again.
“No, thank you. I’m trying to cut toxic stuff out of my life.”
The barista looked panicked. “I don’t think it’s toxic.”
“It is to me.”
The barista rang me up and held out the card reader. I slapped Beckett’s hand away when he attempted to pay.
I waited at the end of the counter, watching the coffee being made with an intensity that was making the barista nervous, but I couldn’t afford to turn and peer over my shoulder at the six-foot-five asshole leaning against the wall. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head, and it sent me hot all over. It was anger. It had to be.
“Mrs. Anderson?”
Mrs. Anderson? Who the hell was that?Beckett made no move to get the coffee, and we were the only two people waiting.
“That’s yours, Tiny,” he said, his mouth suddenly near my ear.
I jumped.
“You changed the name on my order? Real mature.” I grabbed the cup and read the name on the side.Mrs. Eve Anderson.
“What can I say, I can read the future. It’s a gift.”
