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“Actually, I think Keith and I will split a medium veggie.”
My gaze shot to my ex, my brows high on my forehead. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him when he’d started eating vegetables, but I forced the question back down. It wasn’t my place, after all.
Keith’s face pulled into a grimace that he was attempting and failing to turn into a smile. That answered the question on the vegetables. He was going to choke down pizza he didn’t like, all for his new girlfriend. I wasn’t sure if that was sweet or if it was because she had his balls in a jar by her bedside table. The jury was still out. I hadn’t known Rebecca very well back in high school, not for lack of trying, but I didn’t know thisHayleyversionat all.
One of my waitresses came over, granting me a slight reprieve from the awkwardness of this meeting while I placed our lunch order. A medium veg for the happy couple and two slices of meat lovers for me. Hey, I wasn’t trying to please the woman. I’d eat what I damn well wanted. As soon as she was gone, we lapsed back into an uncomfortable silence. It finally became too much for me to take, so I decided to break it myself
“So, how did you guys meet?”
Hayley leaned deeper into Keith, gazing up at him adoringly as she batted her eyelashes and played with the folded collar of his shirt. It was way too over the top. “It was so unexpected, right babe?”
Keith smiled down at her again before looking back at me. “Hayley came to one of our shows.”
“It was amazing,” she cooed. “Keith’s so talented.”
It took everything I had not to curl my lip in disgust at the display she was putting on. I knew better than most that Keith and his band were mediocre, at best. Certainly nothing to gush over.
“Anyway,” Keith continued, “she liked our music so much, she came to talk to us when we were breaking down at the end of the gig, and well, the rest is history,” he said with a shrug and a goofy grin.
Hayley looked over at me while still plastered to Keith’s side. “We’ve been inseparable ever since.”
I forced a smile. “That’s... sweet. I guess congratulations are in order then.”
The pizzas came not long after. Keith and I dove in while Hayley daintily picked at her slice with a fork and knife, hardly taking more than a couple bites before moving the toppings around on her plate.
“Everything okay with the pizza, babe?” Keith asked as he munched on his.
“Oh, yeah. It’s just...” Hayley pulled her face into a fake wince. “The sauce tastes a little off.”
This bitch! I thought to myself, but choked down the words I wanted to hurl back at her.
Keith choked on the bite he’d just taken, his wide eyes coming to me. “I, uh... it tastes good to me,” he said, attempting to play devil’s advocate. I actually felt bad for the guy. He wasn’t my favorite person in the world, that was for damn sure, but it was obvious he was trying his best to make this whole situation as painless for all parties involved.
As hard as it was, I decided to take the high road and put him out of his misery. “It’s all right, Keith. Everyone’s taste is different.” I didn’t bother mentioning that his woman’s taste was just plain bad, but I was certainly thinking it.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to me, her voice brimming with false remorse. “I’m just really sensitive to flavors and stuff. I’m just used to Momma Gianna’s,” she said, mentioning the pizza place one town over in Hope Valley. It was good, but it wasn’t Junior’s, that was for damn sure.
“No problem.” I assured her as I went back to eating my own meal.
God, I really needed this lunch from hell to end already.
7
HARDIN
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to run to the little girl’s room and freshen up,” Hayley said as she grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth.
Seriously, who the hell talked like that? Little girl’s room? Freshen up? Come on, it wasn’t like we didn’t know what a person did in the bathroom. There was no need to make yourself sound like some southern debutant, for Christ’s sake.
I breathed a sigh of relief once she was gone, grateful for the short break I got from the passive insults and backhanded compliments.
“I’m really sorry,” Keith said once she was out of earshot. “You know, for the comment about the sauce... She’s just got a really sensitive pallet.” My eyes bugged out and I choked on a laugh. It was ironic how the words coming out of his mouth sounded just like Hayley. I wasn’t even sure if Keith knew what a pallet was. His brows pinched together. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” I held my hands up in surrender. “Not a single thing.”
Keith shifted on the bench across from me like he was antsy, struggling to get comfortable. He cleared his throat, tugging uncomfortably at the collar of a shirt he never in a million years would have worn by choice. At least not when I’d known him... therealversion of him.
“So?” Keith finally asked once he was done fidgeting. “What do you think?”
