Page 42 of The Moment I Knew

“I bet you will,” I mumbled under my breath. I wondered whether she even liked the drink or if she just picked it for the name.

Cole typed everything in silently, his movements slow, deliberate, and somehow patient. His bedhead hair fell into his eyes and my fingers itched to reach across the register and push it out of his eyes for him.

“It’ll be ready in a few minutes,” Cole said flatly. He tilts his head toward the pickup area. “End of the counter.”

“Thank you, handsome,” Hilary chirps, stuffing a five dollar bill in the tip jar before she steps toward the pickup area.

Cole leaned on the counter, elbows wide, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You know, you could’ve just told her to shove it.”

I blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

He tilted his head, eyes glinting, letting the silence stretch. “You just let her talk to you like you’re a kid. Nodded, smiled, all polite and proper. Didn’t make a peep. Just… went along with it.”

I crossed my arms, leaning back slightly, refusing to let him see I was even a little ruffled. “Not everyone solves problems by yelling or hitting things,” I said, voice steady. “Some of us think before we act.”

“Yeah,” he said, tilting his head back up to me, grin widening. “Right. Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to for a minute.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged, casual, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You don’t say no. You don’t ruffle feathers. You don’t defend yourself even when you should.”

“You don’t know that.”

He rests his palms on the counter and leans forward. “I do know that.” I open my mouth to argue, but he cuts me off. “Princess, I came to your rescue the other day.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

His eyes glittered like the memory of nearly punching Mitch on my behalf excited him. Maybe it does. With his reputation, I wouldn’t be surprised. “You didn’t need to. Like I said, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I just want you to be able to defend yourself too.”

A fluttering worked its way through my stomach—at his words, his proximity, his encouragement. But before I could reply, Hilary called my name. I drew in a deep breath, then broke Cole’s gaze and turned to face her. She waved me over.

“Yes?” I asked as I stepped up beside her.

Her lips turned into a sad frown. She reached out a hand and placed it on my shoulder like she was trying to comfort me, and I knew before she even said the words that Dad had bailed.

“Sorry, Imogen. He just can’t get out of this one. But you and I can hang out! We can go get another manicure. I noticed your polish is all chipped off. You could use a refresh already.”

I grit my teeth together, preparing to go home with another horrible nail polish color after this wildly disappointing visit.

fourteen

Saturday afternoon came faster than I wanted it to. Luckily, my whole family was out—Sebastian and Lavender out on dates, Ainsley at Clementine’s, and Mum working a weekend shift—so I didn’t have to explain to anyone why I was dressed up and waiting by the window, watching cars drive by.

Mitch arrived twenty minutes late and didn’t bother coming up to knock on the front door. He didn’t even text me to say he’d pulled up—I just had to assume it was him when a sleek black sports car pulled into my driveway and idled there.

As I walked up to the car, I could see him watching me through the windshield, but he didn’t get out to greet me. I waited a beat, just in case he might actually get out of the car and open my door. He didn’t. Instead, he leaned across the console and shoved the passenger door open from the inside, nearly hitting me with it since I was standing right there. I took hold of it and pulled it open the rest of the way, trying not to wince. Maybe it was old-fashioned to expect him to get out of the car, but it felt like a low bar for a first impression—especially when he hadn’t even bothered to come up to the front door.

As I climbed in, he grinned at me like he’d done something impressive. “Chivalry’s not dead.”

“Uh-huh,” I responded, not even looking at him as I buckled my seatbelt. It’ll be such a relief to get this over with, tell Hilary I did it to get her off my back, and never agree to see him again. I just needed to get through the next hour. Hopefully I’d even be home before the sun set so I could enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Mitch looked pleased with himself as he backed out of the driveway, one hand reaching back to the top of my seat while he twisted to check the road. It was the kind of move I usually found attractive, but on him it just made something in my stomach turn. I couldn’t stop noticing his slicked-back hair every time I looked at him, the way it barely moved. I didn’t understand how anyone could think that much gel was a good idea.

Once we were on the road, the silence stretched. I twisted my bracelet around my wrist and let my attention drift to the car instead—the softly glowing dashboard, the polished ivory surfaces, the cloudy sky. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel like he was already restless, which felt almost impressive considering how hard he’d pushed to make this happen.

“So,” he said as we hit a red light, “I’m glad you texted me. After Thursday…” He paused. “Well, I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“You mean after I watched you run off like a scared little boy after Cole threatened you?”