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His pleading voice causes tears again. “Why am I so adolescent when it comes to this? I mean, you’re in a committed relationship. Aunt Chloe is dating. Hell, I see dreams come true all the time with weddings through the shop. Why can’t I let it go?”
“One step at a time.” Cruz wraps an arm around my shoulder, comforting me.
“Okay, I’ll call him, but you better be prepared for a drunken, soggy, night if I get embarrassed.”
“Always.”
I pull back and shakily dial Robbie, hoping he doesn’t answer. It would be great if I could leave a message.
“Hello.” His deep voice vibrates through the line, and my stomach dips.
“Hey, Robbie, it’s Ember.”
He says something muffled, and I hear a door shutting. “Hi.”
“Are you busy? I can always call back later.”
“No, just hanging out with Finn. How are you?”
“Good, I saw your texts.” I’m a dork.
“Must say, thought you may be mad since I didn’t hear back from you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, E
mber, it’s been almost two hours since I sent the first one.”
“Wow, I slept late. My roommate brought me my phone.” Great, now he’s going to think I’m lazy.
“Did you see all my messages? Are you available for dinner tomorrow night?”
“Dinner?”
“Yes, do you have plans?”
“No, she doesn’t!” Cruz yells, clearly listening to us. I swat his chest and lower the volume.
“Who was that?” Robbie asks suspiciously.
“That was my snooping cousin, Cruz, also known as my roommate.” I shoot a death glare to Cruz, who is now dancing around my room.
“You live with a guy?”
“My cousin,” I clarify.
Robbie laughs, and the sound warms my heart. I can practically see the small dimple on his left cheek as he chuckles. “Listen, I can understand nosy. Remember who my sister is? She doesn’t really have boundaries.”
“That’s something I can relate to.” Even though the conversation is light, there’s an uneasy feeling bothering me from one of his earlier messages. “Robbie, about your message earlier, no one else at Clyde’s would sell Raven out. We’re a family run company.”
Cruz stops dancing and looks at me confused, shaking his head.
“That’s great to know, but do you think that’s why I’m asking you to dinner? Because of Raven?” His tone changes from playful to serious.
I stay silent because that’s exactly what I’m thinking.
“Let me make my intentions clear. I want to get to know you. Your business relationship with my sister has nothing to do with me. I was an idiot to mention it earlier. What I should have said was I don’t appreciate people up in my family shit, and if another asshole comes in asking questions, they need to ask them to my face. Not put you on the spot.”
