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“How’s your night?” I ask absently, starting to sign Skye before I remember I’m Ivy, and correcting the signature into an illegible scribble.
“Not bad, really,” he says. “Better than last time I was here. Good grief, that guy was a dick.”
“Which guy?” I ask, handing him the clipboard back.
“The drunk guy in the red Tesla.”
My eyes narrow. “When was he here?”
He shrugs. “Last weekend. Friday night, if I’m not mistaken. I parked out back like I did tonight. There wasn’t an open spot. I ran in real quick with a pizza, and when I got back out, he was yelling at me about how I needed to go to the overflow across the street, and I was blocking him in. I was here literally less than three minutes.”
I glance over at his car, then back at him. “How do you know he was drunk?”
The pizza guy laughs. “How could I not? I could smell it onhim from three feet away. He said a bunch of sloppy, slurred words, then got into a red Tesla. I’m glad that guy has autopilot.”
“It must have been the highlight of his good decisions that night,” I muse. “Okay, thanks…?”
“Ben,” he adds, extending his hand so I can shake it. “I work every weekend, and Ms. Vegetarian-Extra-Mushrooms orders from us religiously. I’ll see you again, I’m sure.”
I nod. “See you next week.” Ben climbs back into his car and pulls out of the parking lot as I walk the pizzas toward the kitchen.
Evan did leave the restaurant on Friday night. And he was drunk, in his car. A car I haven’t seen since I arrived.
I have a lot of questions for Evan. I hope he’s ready for our date.
I walk back inside, sliding the pizza boxes onto the back prep table near the entrance to the employee locker room. I try not to look up as I pass the line, but I can’t help it. Zaden turns from the grill to the window to throw a steak on a plate, and our eyes meet. Sweat runs down his face, his Sandbar shirt plastered to his chest like a second skin. My heart skitters wildly in my chest as he holds my gaze while the chaos of the kitchen swims around us.
“Ivy,” Evan says, walking in through the swinging doors. “I’ve been looking for you. We just sat you. Twice.”
I glance over at Evan, pulling my server book out of my apron. “Apologies. I was taking a break.”
Evan wraps an arm around my waist and leads me through the kitchen, his hand resting low on my hip.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve already got Mason grabbing yourdrinks. I was thinking Marleigh’s tonight. Then maybe head back to my place? You haven’t even seen the pool yet.”
I nod and force a smile, my nails biting into the leather cover of my server book. “Sounds great.” I know his loud, demanding voice carried through the kitchen. Maybe that was his intent. To claim me, officially, in front of everyone.
As I walk through the swinging doors, I glance back toward Zaden, then wish I hadn’t. The intensity from only moments before is gone, replaced with a stoic, hardened glare. I can see the flash of pain in his eyes, the betrayal and anger, before he turns back to the grill. I curse a thousand times in my mind, but this is how it has to go.
Somehow, I hope he sees my pain, too.
Chapter 21
Zaden
Asingle street light flickers at the center of the parking lot in a run-down strip center, casting a dull strobe on the rows of cars beneath. Nick pulls his truck into one of the spaces, and I leap out of the back, falling into step beside Nick and Mia.
“Sorry about your girl,” Nick says, glancing over at me.
“If you think I’m giving up, you don’t know me at all,” I respond dryly, shoving my hands deep into my pockets.
“Come on, man. She’s seeing someone else. Just let her go.”
I shake my head. “She’s playing a game, so I’ll ante up.” Cigarette smokers crowd the front porch, their voices barely rising above the poorly sung karaoke pouring out into the night from behind the cracked door.
“Just don’t go all in, okay?” Mia pleads. “This girl has all the red flags.”
“You know I can’t resist a woman in red,” I admit with a smirk. She laughs, brushing past me as I open the door. I take afortifying breath. I can’t let them see that I’m hurt, or they’ll know I let her get to me. That pain is my secret, and I hold it close, determined to prove it false.
