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5
HARLEY
Ugh. What was he doing here?
I could tell my dad this was a business meeting. He already knew I was leaving Ultra Bright Technologies to take a job at Nic’s company. That could be a perfectly good explanation for why I was at the most expensive restaurant in town with him. He was my soon-to-be boss. I might only have a week and a half left on my notice, but meeting with the owner of Holly Day Lights wasn’t that unusual.
Yes, I could have blown it off as that, but I decided against it. I’d spent years respecting my father and following his rules, only to walk into the office and find my college roommate wearing his button-down shirt…and nothing else. The only thing saving me from going off right now was that he wasn’t seated across from that college roommate. Instead, he was with some guy in a suit.
“Harley?” Dad asked, his eyes widening and his expression brightening slightly. Then his gaze slid to the left a little and he spotted the man behind me.
His eyes didn’t immediately darken as I would have expected. No, this look was one of confusion. I could clear that up for him.
“We’re on a date,” I said. I started to clarify that it was our first-ever real date, but why? No, better to plunge right in. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few days now.”
The guy seated across from him shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and I couldn’t blame him. This was some drama he hadn’t signed up for when he agreed to meet my father for dinner. In fact, seconds ago, the two of them had probably been discussing business plans and fourth-quarter earnings.
“Mr. Baxter—” Nic began.
But my dad didn’t let him get another word out. “Why are you doing this? Is it because of the thing with Whitney because—?”
“Because you and Whitney are the real deal?” I asked. “You felt that something special the first time you saw each other?”
Those were clearly the words he’d planned to say—or some variation of them. Dad opened his mouth as if to speak, but clamped it shut again, shifting his gaze to Nic.
“That’s exactly what I could say about my feelings for Nic,” I said. “It sucks, doesn’t it, when you have the right feelings for the wrong person?”
I was aware, even as the words were coming out of my mouth, that they could be a step too far too soon. What if Nic got the wrong idea? What if he ran, like other guys tended to, the second he got a whiff that I wanted something serious?
He was a serial bachelor. That was what both Taylor and Carly had said earlier tonight, putting it as gently as possible. He was notorious for blasting through the town’s attractive women, never quite settling down.
What made me think I’d be any different?
“I’ve always done exactly what you ordered,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and keeping my voice low. The restaurant wasn’t jam-packed, but there were enough people around that I could easily make a scene by raising my volume a couple of notches. “I wanted to make you proud. I wanted to be the type of person I thought you were. But it turns out, you were no different than every other guy I’ve met. So I don’t have to follow your rules anymore.”
I stepped back and looked at Nic, who’d moved to stand near the table. I’d thought it was a protective move, but he looked concerned in a different way. He looked like he wanted to explain to my father why he’d screwed his daughter. Maybe he’d even downplay it.
It meant nothing.
She came on to me.
I promise, it won’t happen again.
He said none of that, but did he have to? Did I need to wait around for him to break my heart?
“So dating Nic Brooks is your way of rebelling?” Dad said, pushing his seat back and standing. I worried for a second he might throw a punch or two. “You’re with this guy to make some sort of point?”
I shook my head. “You just don’t get it. You’ll never get it. It’s not about you. It’s about me.”
The sting of tears told me I’d better get out of there, and fast. Otherwise, Nic Brooks and my father would see me cry. I was not going to let Nic know he’d gotten into my heart. Not if he was the “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type my friends made him out to be.
“I’m my own person,” I said. “It’s time you understand that. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I need to be alone.”
As I sped from the restaurant, pulling my phone out to call for a rideshare, I let the tears fall freely. Even the sympathetic look from the maître d’ couldn’t stop me from crying.
No, I didn’t care what anyone thought right now. All I knew was my heart was breaking, and I might never recover from it.
6
