I cleared my throat, eyes lingering on the freshly baked bread twists he’d set down next to my plate. “That’s not necessary—”
“I just want you to try a bite,” Easton said with a peculiar expression on his face, almost as if he wanted me to like something he liked. “If you don’t care for it, you don’t have to finish the rest.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering what he was up to. “How nice of you to let me off the hook.”
He smirked. “Didn’t you know? I’m a nice guy.”
Before I had a chance to think, I threw my head back and laughed, unable to contain myself any longer. It was as if all the tension from the past twenty minutes released itself, and my laughter sounded almost hysterical. I wiped my eyes with the corner of my cloth napkin and let out a breath. “Sorry. That was just…funny.”
The waiter looked from Easton to me, confusion in his eyes. He was probably trying to figure out how we knew each other and why we were here together if we didn’t particularly like each other. “Two cranberry ducks. I’ll put in the order.”
Once he left, I turned back to Easton. He was staring at me with a straight face, not finding my amusement about his “niceness” humorous at all. I shrugged it off. He could think whatever he wanted, but I didn’t care. He’d never apologized for what he’d done to me in high school, and I doubted he ever would. Apparently, he was too above asking for forgiveness. He was wealthy and powerful and insanely good-looking. And I was no one to him, so why should he bother apologizing?
That didn’t mean I couldn’t demand an answer, though. I planned to, now that I had the chance. Sitting up straighter in my chair, I squared my shoulders. “Why did you do it?”
He raised lazy eyes to mine, appearing as if he didn’t have a care in the world, but it was all an act. I knew that much. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, regarding me with an air of condescension. “If you’re speaking of the duck, I just thought—”
“I’m not talking about that.” I waited for a few seconds, gathering my courage, trying to piece together the right words. “Why did you threaten to beat up Liam if he took me to the prom? That’s what I want to know.”
He paused as if thinking through his response and then shrugged. “Just didn’t like the guy.” He continued to maintain eye contact as if he had nothing to hide.
I stared at him dumbfounded, and hurt nestled in my ribs, but I was too angry to cry. Did he really think I would accept that as an answer? “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
“I barely remember my motives back then much less why I told Liam to leave you alone.” His lip curled in a sneer. “He wasn’t good enough for one of my sister’s friends.”
My head jerked back, and I gripped the edge of the table until my knuckles turned white. “You didn’t think he was good enough? Why? Because he wasn’t rich? Because he was kind and generous and didn’t mix with the popular crowd?” A feeling of revulsion filled my stomach, and I wanted to stand up and leave. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.
“Let it go, Maya.” He spoke as if trying to calm a wild horse. “It was a long time ago. I rarely think about who I hung out with back then and you shouldn’t either.” He waved a hand through the air. “Who cares?”
I wanted to scream, to wipe the floor with him right here in front of anyone who cared to witness it. He needed to understand that he wasn’t above everyone else, and it wasn’t okay to step on people’s feelings. “That’s not good enough. What you did hurt Liam and me. At the very least, I deserve an apology.”
His eyes flickered with an undecipherable emotion, and then he shrugged as if he couldn’t be bothered. “I’m not sorry for what I did.”
My mouth fell open at his audacity. “You’re a jerk.”
“Yes, and it’s gotten me where I am today. That’s how the world works, Maya. You assert your will or others assert theirs over you.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “If you plan to let a ruined date with a loser upset you nine years later, you’ve got problems. I can’t help it if…” He cleared his throat. “You’re still hung up over prom.”
I was not the type to act rashly, but his lack of remorse made me so angry, I could barely contain myself. I stood to my feet and picked up the saucy chicken dish, and before he had a chance to register what I was about to do, I dumped it on his head. Red liquid dripped over his hair and down his face. Little pieces of chicken got caught in his hair, and it would have been funny if I wasn’t so furious.
“How’s that for asserting my will?”
I stormed out of the restaurant, not bothering to wait for a response from him. Nothing he said would make it better at this point. In fact, it would only make things worse.
***
“How could you, Charlotte? That was by far, the worst date I’ve ever been on in my entire life, and that’s saying a lot considering the guy who tried to recruit me for his online business.”
I was at Charlotte’s house not long after I’d stormed out of Mario’s, sitting on her floral couch, holding Scarlet, her miniature toy poodle, as a source of comfort. Guilt pricked my conscience at my lack of forgiveness, but I pushed it away. The Lord wanted me to lay aside my bitterness, but I just couldn’t do that right now.
Charlotte bit down on her bottom lip as she hovered not far away, appearing afraid to sit down. She probably thought it wise to remain on her feet considering the state I was in. “You have to believe me. I really thought you would connect with each other if given the chance.”
Exasperated, I threw my arms up in the air, and Scarlet shifted in my lap. “What made you think that?”
“I’ve seen the way you watch my brother, Maya. Come on. Don’t tell me you aren’t attracted to him.”
“I’m not.” I bit down on my bottom lip, hating the lie.
“Right. I don’t believe you.”
“Fine. He’s handsome. But it can’t make up for his delinquent personality. Attraction is not just about someone’s appearance.”
A flash of pain washed over her features, but only for a second, and I instantly felt guilty. He was her brother, after all. “There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye. If you got to know him, you’d see that.”
I ran my fingers through Scarlet’s reddish-brown fur, taking comfort in her steady presence. “Look, he’s your brother, so it’s natural you would defend him, but Charlotte, he wasn’t sorry at all for what he did to me in high school. You must see why I’m so frustrated.”
“I get it, but I think there’s probably more to the story than what we heard. I remember when all that happened, and Easton wouldn’t talk about it with me. Something was wrong. Mom and Dad were concerned.”
That was all news to me, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but even so, it didn’t excuse his behavior. “Okay, let’s just say hypothetically that he was in the right. If that were the case, he would’ve told you what went down. But he knows he’s wrong, and that’s why his explanations are so vague.”