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“What are you doing?” Charlotte demanded abruptly.
It was because I had risen from my seat and taken a step toward the door. I hadn’t realized I’d done it, and she and the server peered at me with confusion. Shit, what was I doing?
“I need a minute,” I announced.
It didn’t bother me how Charlotte lifted an eyebrow in annoyance, or the way Mrs. Novak’s disapproving gaze followed me as I marched through the restaurant.
I pushed open the glass door, stepped outside while squinting against the bright evening sun, and scanned the people milling around who were waiting for tables.
Where was she?
“Sydney,” I said as soon as I spotted her.
She stood beneath a tree in one of the islands of the parking lot and had her head tipped down as she studied the screen of her phone. But she lifted it upon hearing her name and seemed less than thrilled to see I was heading toward her.
The thought rolled loudly through her face. My day just went from bad to worse.
I had to ignore that. “Are you okay? What just happened?”
Her expression shuttered. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Her voice was raw, and she turned to the side, maybe not wanting me to see how hard she was trying to hold it together.
But when she moved, I caught a glimpse of the Uber app open on her screen. Had her mother driven them to dinner? Maybe she wanted to go home. Or maybe she wanted to go somewhere else entirely.
“You need a ride?” I asked. “I can drive you.”
She blinked at my offer with distrust. Part of her wanted to say yes, but then she thought better of it. “What about your,” she searched for the right word, “friend in there?”
Oh, right. “We came separately. I can text her something came up.”
I joined Sydney under the shade of the tree, probably standing too close, but she was distracted and didn’t seem to mind.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked. “Home?” I came up with a better option. “Colin’s place?”
She turned to give me her full attention, and—shit. She was overwhelmed. “I . . . don’t know.”
“That’s okay.” I shrugged. “Let’s just drive around for a while, then.”
She let out a tight breath, surprised by this idea. She glanced down at the phone in her hand as she considered it, then lifted her hesitant gaze back to me. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
A voice inside me warned that this was definitely not okay, and was, in fact, a terrible idea. Last time we’d been alone together, I’d come away from it with a ridiculous crush. A longing I didn’t want to have, but one that had grown much too strong to ignore.
What the fuck might happen this time?
So, I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“Yeah,” I said confidently. “I’m sure.”
FIVE
Sydney
Preston just, like, abandoned his date. He did text her as we walked to his car, but I pictured the woman sitting back at the table and imagined her mouth dropping open when she read his message.
It was hard to be mad at him, though. He’d left her for me.
We reached his car, and he pulled open the passenger door to a black Dodge Charger, gesturing for me to climb in. But I couldn’t make my body cooperate.
My voice was flat. “I thought you didn’t date.”
