“You’ve been speaking to Stuart, have you? Well, two can play this game, Charles. I wanted to reconcile, and you just want a war? Fine. I’ll give you one.”
“You don’t have a chance.”
She doesn’t say another word, slamming her shoulder into mine as she passes, heading back into Zero Bond.
I stand in the warm June air, wondering how I’m going to explain Tabitha to Raven.
What a fucking mess.
The walk back to the table is tense as I try to decide what I’m willing to share with Raven.
That week in Italy meant something to me. We aren’t defining things, but I really do like her. I want to protect her. Enough to want to shield her from Tabitha’s wrath. Enough to want to see where this thing goes.
“Are you all right?” she asks, appearing concerned.
There’s no anger present on her delicate features, and it’s such a contrast to the girls I dated earlier in life.
My ray of sunshine, even after a less-than-friendly run-in with a crazy cow.
“Fine, love. Did you decide what you’d like to eat?”
She gnashes her lips together but doesn’t press, looking back at the menu with furrowed brows.
“Everything looks delicious.”
“Then everything you shall have.” I smile, but she doesn’t return it.
She sets down her menu and looks directly into my eyes, momentarily paralyzing me.
“You know I don’t need you to do elaborate things for me, right? That’s not why I’m here with you.”
My lip twitches. “I know, and that’s likely whyI’mhere withyou.” I sigh, grabbing her hands across the small table. “I’ve told you I haven’t done relationships. That includes taking women to dinner or buying them flowers. I haven’t done those things for anyone in a very long time.”
“Why me?” she asks, her voice small and full of doubt. As if the very idea of me being here with her was some cosmic joke, and she was about to learn of it.
“I’m not certain. I just know you’re a bright light in a rather gloomy room.”
“There you go with the poetry.”
I smirk. “It’s the God’s honest truth. I adore spending time with you.”
She smiles. “Me, too.”
By some act of God, Raven doesn’t ask about Tabitha, and I’m more than happy to avoid it.
“Will you tell me about your family?” I ask, recognizing the double standard.
She doesn’t seem to care, though, and that warms my heart even further.
Her face lights up as she tells me all about her mother. It’s easy to see they’re very close.
I listen with rapt attention, soaking up her positivity and general goodness.
She’s so different from Tabitha. Different from anyone I’ve ever met. She’s an old soul trapped in a twentysomething body.
“I should have asked this so many times before, but how old are you, Raven?”
“Twenty-six. I’ll be twenty-seven in September.”