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His smile falls. “So am I, Carlee.”
I know that look. I grew up with that look. Corey’s determined I hear him out, and unless I plan on wrestling my bag from his grip, I don’t have a choice.
“Fine,” I grumble. “What do you need to say?”
He doesn’t miss a beat. “I’m sorry.”
I just stare. “For what?”
“Everything.” He inhales through his nostrils. “For hitting your ex. For causing a scene. But mostly for how I treated you after the meeting with Wilson. I was frustrated. And angry. And… scared. I didn’t want anyone to know about Soup Soul, and I overreacted when I thought you told your coworkers about it.”
“I would never do that.”
“I know that now.”
“You should have known it then.” That’s honestly what hurt the most. I can understand Corey’s anger, but the fact it was directed at me killed me.
“You’re right.” He nods. “I should have. I’m sorry.”
Some of my fight fades. It’s hard to argue with someone who doesn’t want to argue back, but I’m still upset. Self-respectmakes me hold on to the last tendrils of my anger with a desperate grip. “What changed your mind?”
“A kid posted a photo of me serving in the cafeteria,” he admits. “It was months ago, but they only recently tagged me in the post.”
And with the way the Lonestars organization has been monitoring Corey’s social media accounts, I bet someone noticed almost immediately.
“I should’ve been aware,” I say more to myself than to him. As the lead on Corey’s social media content, I don’t understand how I wasn’t told about the connection to Soup Soul. No one knew I already knew about it.
Unless…
“Can I see the post?” I try to keep the worry from my voice. I fail.
“What’s wrong?” Corey reaches into his back pocket and takes out his phone.
“Nothing.”
He shoots me a skeptical look but proceeds to unlock his phone and navigate to the post. He hands me the device.
Nervous, I look down at the screen. The second I see the picture, my suspicions are confirmed. There, standing in the background, almost completely out of frame, are me and Jose. My hair is tied back and covered with a hairnet, giving an unobstructed view of my face. Unless you knew me personally, you wouldn’t recognize me. But that’s the thing… anyone who works in our department would most certainly recognize me. And whoever saw this post chose not to mention it to me.
My head spins with reasons why that may be. None of them are good.
“What’s wrong?” Corey asks again. His hand cups my elbow gently, as if afraid I’m going to faint.
“I’m in this photo.”
“I know.”
“But I’m not the one who showed it to the Lonestars’ organization.”
Corey connects the dots. “Someone you work with saw it.”
“And they didn’t talk to me about it.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Which means someone must think my judgment around you is biased. Or clouded, at best.”
“Well, I’m sure everyone knows by now that we grew up in the same town.”
“Yeah.”Or someone figured out we’re dating, and I’m on the brink of being fired.
Corey scans my face. “What aren’t you telling me, Carlee?”
