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“Har har,” he says without even an ounce of humor in his voice, but I see his lips twitch, trying to hold in his smile. He hunches down further and mutters, “But you might be right.”
I gasp and clutch a hand to my chest in mock surprise. “What? He finally admits that I’m right? I can’t believe it!”
Josiah rolls his eyes. “Are you done?”
“What am I supposed to do with my life now that my mission on this Earth is finally complete?” I say in an old Southern accent. Josiah raises his brows in exasperation. “Okay, now I’m done. Really, though, will you go to the eye doctor?”
“Maybe,” he says.
The waiter comes to our table, and while Josiah gives him his order, I glance around the restaurant. A couple being shown to their nearby table catches my attention. The woman’s long blonde hair and mile-long legs are the definition of perfection, and I’d know the back of that man’s head anywhere. My breath catches in my throat, and my stomach turns into knots as Brandon turns his head, and his eyes meet mine. He’s with his fiancée—the blonde. He looks away, but an evil smirk spreads across his face as he wraps his arm around Lacey. That’s her name. I’ll never forget hearing him call for her from that stage. In all the years we were together, he never once called me onto the stage during one of his shows.
I turn back toward Josiah. The waiter is gone, and Josiah’s gaze is locked on Brandon across the restaurant. I scoot into the chair directly next to Josiah so that my back is to Brandon. I don’t want to spend the entirety of my first date with Josiah being forced to watch my ex with his new girl.
Josiah looks uncomfortable, and he keeps glancing over to where Brandon sits. I swear I can feel the creep’s eyes staring into the back of my head. Suddenly, Lacey lets out a shrieking laugh that causes my entire body to convulse in horror. It’s the worst sound I’ve ever heard. It’s like nails on a chalkboard but fifty-million times worse. And it’s not just because I can’t stand the thought of her.
Why do they have to be here right now? Why couldn’t I just have this one night out with Josiah? How are they stillfinding ways to ruin my personal life? I swear they’re doing it on purpose.
Well, if Brandon is going to ruin my night, I’ll ruin his right back. I scoot my chair closer to the corner of the table so I can reach Josiah better. I take his massive hand in mine and gaze up at him like a love-sick teenager. Josiah’s eyes widen in confusion—or is that panic? We’ve never held hands before, unless you count all those times when we were tiny kids. Maybe I’m putting it on a little too thick, but I need Brandon to know I’ve completely moved on from him—and bonus points for the guy being Josiah.
I can’t even count how many times Brandon complained about my relationship with Josiah over the years. Even after I stopped hanging out with him alone, he found things to whine about. He hated it when I hugged Josiah, when I mentioned that he was at my parents’ house for dinner, when we saw a movie together with an entire group of mutual friends, when Josiah loaned me a hoodie when I forgot my jacket at home and it was thirty-five degrees outside. He hates Josiah almost as much as Josiah hates him. So, this is the best possible thing to happen for me since our breakup.
“Ellis, what are you doing?” Josiah asks with a hint of wariness in his voice. I lean my head on his arm and laugh like he’s just said something hilarious. Josiah’s eyes cut over to where I know Brandon and Lacey are seated. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows. He takes a deep breath and nods his head in acceptance. I breathe a sigh of relief, thankful he’s willing to go along with the charade.
Our food is delivered a few moments later, and we spend the rest of dinner putting on an epic show for Brandon. Josiah even gets into it, which is a huge surprise. I didn’t know he was such a good actor. He wraps his arm around the back of my chair like the stereotypical alpha male. I’d swoon if I didn’tknow it was an act. He feeds me a bite of his Greek meatballs, and I make a show of sighing loudly at how delicious they are. I’d never act like this normally. I can’t stand causing a scene, but desperate times and all that.
When it’s time to leave, Josiah helps me put my jacket on and does up the buttons in the front, then he wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses me on the temple. I can’t help it. I actually swoon. The only thing holding me up is Josiah’s strong, solid arm.
I can practically feel the anger and hatred radiating from Brandon’s little corner booth, but I refuse to look over in his direction. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I’m thinking of him. I’m sure it’s only making him angrier.
I wish Iweren’tthinking about him, though. I hate that seeing him has shaken me up so much. I wish I could look at him and feel nothing at all. Just indifference. I’m sure that’s all he feels for me.
It hurts knowing that he meant more to me than I ever did to him. I never could have casually thrown him to the side the way he did to me. Deep down, I know that just makes him a horrible person and says nothing whatsoever about me personally. It still feels like a knife to the gut when I remember it, though.
As soon as I step outside into the cool night air, it feels like a weight is lifted off my shoulders. Brandon and Lacey are gone! I shake off all the memories and lingering wounds from our very public breakup a little over a month ago. None of it matters anymore. None of it has the power to hurt me anymore, because I refuse to give it any more power.
A smile spreads across my face. Now that the first public sighting is over, I feel nothing but relief and peace. I survived, and I don’t feel sad. I can move on and live my life, and I don’t have to worry about him ever again.
Josiah and I get into his car, and I reach over to turn on the radio. I flip through the stations for a minute until I find something fun to listen to. I look out the window and sing along with the song for a minute until a new song comes on.
Josiah’s being awfully quiet, and I don’t know why. I chance a look at him, and his knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel. Every muscle in his entire body is tensed, as if he’s getting ready to pounce on something. I face the front of the car, suddenly not sure what exactly is happening. Did something happen in between leaving the restaurant and getting in this car that I’m not aware of? I thought everything was going fine tonight. Sure, it’s really unfortunate that Brandon ended up being there, but we made the best of it…didn’t we?
I clench my hands in my lap and glance over at Josiah again. His jaw is clenched so tight that I’m worried he’s going to crack a molar. I turn the music up a little, hoping it will ease some of whatever this tension is. Did Brandon say something to him when I wasn’t paying attention? I was facing away from him, so anything could have happened when I wasn’t looking.
The forty-minute drive home is agonizing. Josiah doesn’t say a single word to me the entire time. I sit in my seat, trying to make myself as small as I possibly can so that maybe he’ll just forget that I’m here altogether. I’ll just blend into the upholstery.
Finally, he pulls his car into my driveway, but once again, he stops long before he gets to the house. He puts the car in park and then turns to face me. He rests his elbow against his seat and puts his hand over his mouth as he lets out a long, sad sigh.
“What? Now you want to talk to me? You’ve had a wholeforty-minute car ride to do that, you know?” I say, trying my best not to sound as angry and annoyed as I feel.
He takes a deep breath and drops his hand. His mouth is set in a grim line, and he looks as if he’s barely containing his anger. Josiah is never angry with me. He would probably let me get away with murder and find some way to spin it so that it wasn’t my fault. What could he possibly have to be angry about?
“I’ve spent the whole car ride gathering my thoughts so that I wouldn’t yell at you. I’ve never yelled at you before, and I have no plans to start now,” he says.
Yell at me? I haven’t done anything!
“I asked you out on a date,” he starts. His voice is shaky, but I don’t know from what emotion. Is it anger or sadness? “I was so excited to finally take you out and tell you how I feel about you.”
I sit up straighter in my seat, ready to hear all about these feelings. Is this it? The moment we lay it all out there for each other? I reach my hand out to touch his arm, but he moves it away and swipes a hand over his distressed face.
