Chapter Thirteen
“Did you make these sandwiches yourself?” I ask Summer, impressed. They are club sandwiches, and seriously delicious.
“No,” she says, taking a huge bite out of her own. “We have a chef here. The place is a restaurant during the day, although we closed it for a little while to renovate and only just reopened it. It will start getting busy again soon, and we’ll need to hire some more employees.”
“Well, the chef is awesome,” I tell her. “I’ll have to start coming here for lunch every day.”
“Please do,” she says, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Reid always says I come in and work too much, but what am I going to do? Sit at home? I get bored. I’d rather keep busy.”
“I’m the same. I don’t think I could not work.” I pause. “I could use more holiday time though.”
“Yeah, I think everyone could,” Summer agrees then changes the subject. “So have you slept with him yet?”
I shake my head. “Does no one have a filter anymore?”
“We don’t have any boundaries in our group,” she admits, leaning back in the booth. “What are the fun in boundaries anyways?”
“No, we haven’t slept together,” I confess. “We’ve only been on two dates, and I know it’s kind of different circumstances, but I don’t know. I think rushing into everything could be a mistake. Plus, there’s the whole ‘he had a girlfriend just the other day’ thing.”
“Oh, that little chestnut,” she says, waving her hand in the air. “I kind of felt like he was just with her for the sake of being with someone. She was a bitch, after all.”
“Yeah, but that’s exactly my point,” I say, sighing dejectedly. “I don’t want it to be like that with us. If he just wants to be with someone, that’s not exactly a good way to start a relationship.”
She puts her hand up. “Don’t twist my words, Vi. Those circumstances were with Vanessa, not you. You’re the exception to his every rule. You’re the one for him; I just know it.”
“I’m glad someone knows what’s going on,” I grumble.
“I see it from the outside in,” she continues. “Trust me; the two of you are meant to be. Stop being stubborn and let him in.” She pauses. “Between your legs and in your heart.”
I throw a fry at her, but she just catches it and eats it.
“I don’t get how he can have no concerns though. He just seems so sure of everything, and we haven’t even spent much time together since reconnecting.”
“You’re totally overthinking everything,” Summer says. “Listen to me, babe. Dash is a great man. He’s wonderful. And with your history… It’s your call, but to be honest, I don’t think you can turn away. You’re already in too deep, Vi, because, you see, he’s your exception too.”
I cover my face with my hands. “I crave him so badly, even right now.”
“Don’t fight it,” she says, shrugging. “Just go with it. Sometimes, things just work out. There are no dating rules, so just go with your gut instinct. Go with what feels right.”
“Summer, leave the poor girl alone,” Ryan says, walking toward us with a smile. He takes a seat and steals some of Summer’s fries. “Dash knows what he’s doing. He can handle his woman. You don’t need to be advising her.”
“I’ll advise all I want,” she says, poking her tongue out. “She needs to vent, and I’m here for her. I know Dash well, and I know I haven’t seen him look at any woman the way I saw him look at Vi, with yearning and longing bleeding from his pores.”
“Please don’t let him hear you say that,” Ryan groans, shaking his head. “You’re such a hopeless romantic, Sum.”
She messes Ryan’s hair. “Well, look at you and Taiya, for example. You got your second-chance romance. And Vi and Dash need to have theirs.”
Ryan’s expression goes soft at the mention of his wife. “I know, but they need to figure it out by themselves.”
“And on that note, I need to get back to work,” I tell the two of them. “Thanks for lunch, Summer.”
Again, she refuses to let me pay. “Tomorrow, I’m taking you out and I’m paying, and don’t even think of arguing,” I say as I stand up. “Bye, Ryan.”
“Bye, Vi,” both of them say at the same time, leaving me feeling amused.
In the car ride back to work, I make a decision.
I need to be all in or all out with Dash, and I already know what I want.
I’m all in.
I’ve been all in since the first day I met him in those high school hallways.
*****
Dash
Vanessa calls yet again, but I don’t pick up. After talking the breakup through with her Saturday night and all day Sunday, I don’t know what to do to get her to stop calling me and showing up at my house. I fucked up by letting her believe we were anything in the first place. The horrible truth is I was bored and wanted someone to amuse me, and she was there. She’s pretty and she was a safe option, because there’s no way I would have fallen in love with her. We were in no way going to be permanent, and I told her this at the start, so I have no idea why she’s acting like this. I was honest with her and told her I didn’t want anything other than a casual, no-strings relationship, and that this would go no further. She told me she wanted the same, that she wasn’t ready for any type of commitment, which was obviously a lie. This whole thing happened at the worst timing ever, as the one girl I’ve never forgotten came back into my life. I’m not going to lose Viola ever again, so I need to handle Vanessa so she doesn’t cause me any problems.
I wish I never slept with Vanessa in the first place.
My phone rings again, The Weekend playing until she hangs up. She keeps trying to guilt trip me with her tears, like on Sunday, to tell me she needs to talk, but then tries to get me to fuck her instead. I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but I’m more concerned with Viola and her emotional and physical needs. I couldn’t care less about Vanessa and her bullshit. I swirl the scotch in my glass and think about Vi and the time I’ve spent with her.
Fuck.
I smile to myself, just the mere thought of her bringing me happiness.
Vanessa is nothing compared to a woman like Vi.
Vi is just…real.
She’s everything a woman should be.
And I won’t rest until she’s mine in every way a woman can be a man’s.
I can’t let Vanessa stand in the way of my happiness. I know Viola doesn’t like the fact I was with someone when I met her again, and that everything is happening so soon, but sometimes, when it happens, it hits you like a tornado. She needs to realise it’s just us picking up where we left off. I don’t care how many years have passed; to me, Vi is still the same girl who would watch me play basketball, help me look after my sisters, and argue with the teachers because she always had to be right.
She’s mine.
Max once asked me to promise to look after Vi. It was on a weekend that Max was going away with his family, and Vi was staying behind. He cared about her so much; he knew exactly who she was, knew she was someone special. I told him I would, of course, and that he never had to ask, because I cared about her too. He’d slapped my shoulder and told me that if I ever hurt Vi, he’d hunt me down and kill me.
I’d never hurt Vi.
Not intentionally.
Chapter Fourteen
Viola
“My sisters want to see you,” Dash says when I see him next on Friday night, pulling me onto his lap on his couch. “They couldn’t believe I ran into you.”
“I’d love to see them,” I tell him. “Why don’t you bring them here for dinner one time? I’ll show off my cooking skills for everyone.”
“Hopefully they’ve improved since Home Ec,” he says, chuckling at his own joke.