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“Nah, it’s nothing like that. It doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I don’t know why. My dad never kept junk food in the house. I’ve trained to play basketball since I was old enough to hold a ball. You have to stay in shape if you want to play, am I right?”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I have to watch what I eat. I gain weight so fast it’s crazy.”
She glances over her shoulder at me, checking out my body. “You don’t look it.”
“I’m super careful about what I eat. My foster parents never fed us anything healthy. We ate all fried foods and heavy stuff like mac and cheese and pasta. I was so big by the time I graduated from high school that it was probably a good thing I couldn’t afford much food. That helped me lose a lot of the weight I’d gained over the years.”
She gives me a sad look, one that says she feels sorry for me. I’ve seen it so many times on people’s faces. They have no idea what to say when I tell them the truth.
“So, what are you getting?” I say to change the subject.
“A bottle of water and a pretzel, I guess. That’s about the only thing on the menu that’s not covered in grease.”
I remove a ten-dollar bill from my jeans pocket. “Same for me.”
Checking my pocket again, I sigh when I see there are only forty dollars left of my paycheck. And it has to last until next week. This sucks.
After we order and pay, we wait for our food. The lines are so long, spanning halfway down the long, busy hallway. Five minutes later, we gather the pretzels, bottles of water, and Jemma’s hotdog and head back, with only a few minutes to spare.
A man in a black suit, who looks out of place in this arena, stands off to the side by the entrance to the rink. He could be Julian’s much older twin, with his dark hair, tanned skin, and bright green eyes you can’t help but notice.
He moves to my side and says, “Briana?” Before I can respond, he clutches my wrist, scaring the shit out of me.
I almost drop Jemma’s hot dog on his expensive shoe when I shake his hand off me.
“Sorry,” he says, releasing his grip on me. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m Jonathan Rivers, Julian’s dad.”
That explains why he looks so much like him.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asks.
After I hand over Jemma’s food to Bex, Jonathan leads me away from the throng and out of the way of the people clambering to get back before the final period starts.
“You care for Julian,” he says, once we’re further down the hall.
“Yes, I do.”
I have no idea where he’s going with this.
“And how would you feel if he had nothing?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”
“Of course, you don’t,” he snaps.
Confused, I narrow my eyes at him. “This isn’t a social call, is it?”
“Smart girl,” he growls, his voice deep like Julian’s. “I meant what I said to my son. If Julian chooses you, he will have nothing. No family. No money. And no future. Is that what you want for him?”
“Of course not,” I confess. “I would never want that for him, not when I grew up that way.”
He flashes a sadistic smile that sends a chill down my arms. “Yes, you do know what it’s like to have nothing and no one. I can make your life unbearable if you continue to see my son.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you threatening me?”
He shakes his head. “Just giving you a little incentive to walk away. It’s only a matter of time before Julian gets bored of you like he did last time. Men like us don’t settle for women like you. My son might think he’s in love with you now, but you wouldn’t last a second in our world, and once he sees that, he’ll toss you aside for someone better.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I never fit into Julian’s life, at least not in the same way someone with his upbringing would. When we’re alone, everything is fine. No, everything is perfect. But once we’re around other people, especially those like him, I can feel the tension in the air. I’m not one of them. Some of his friends and girls like Abby stare at me. Because I don’t belong.
