Cale

His face registers hurt, but he just nods his head and agrees. “Understandable. Sorry, it just comes so natural with you. I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. No more touching unless you ask.”

Relief washes through me that he understands the boundaries of this dinner. The thought of him touching me or trying to kiss me has been eating at me ever since I agreed to this dinner with him. I don’t need anything else making me feel more guilty and confused than I already do.

“I know where we can eat at.” I sit up and point down the street and over to the left side of the road. “I haven’t been there since I was a kid.”

Tyler looks over to where I’m pointing and pulls into the left lane. “I’m down.”

The only reason I haven’t been there since I was a kid is because Cale hates the place. We had one bad experience with some douche giving me a hard time and Cale decided that he never wanted to go back. It reminded him of that issue and always made him want to punch something.

I’d rather take Tyler here to eat dinner than a place that Cale and I enjoy together. It somehow makes me feel a little better about this whole thing.

We don’t say much more as we head inside and find an empty booth to sit down in. The waitress nods at us as we take our seats, so we both just reach for a menu from the back of the table and skim over the choices while waiting.

After a few minutes, Tyler sets his menu down and stares at me. I can feel his eyes on me, distracting me from the menu.

“Just say it, Tyler. . . . You know I hate it when you just stare at me like that.”

I set my menu down and look him in the eyes. He searches my face in silence before speaking.

“How could you do it?”

We both look up at the waitress as she walks over to take our order. We quickly give her our food and drink order as she jots it down then disappears, leaving us alone in what I’m sure is going to be an uncomfortable conversation.

“What?” I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “What are you getting at?’

His facial expression changes and he suddenly looks angry. “Have sex with that Cale guy.”

I suck in a deep breath and bite my tongue. I don’t like him questioning me like this, and that look on his face makes me want to slap it off of him.

“Why would you ask me that?” I stop talking and smile up at the waitress as she drops off our drinks, then wait for her to walk away before talking again. “I don’t think this is something we should talk about, Tyler.”

He reaches for his cup and takes a long, desperate drink. “Oh . . . it’s definitely something we should talk about, and your response just confirms my suspicions. Why would you sleep with him? We were together for two years; two years, Riley, and you wouldn’t let me make love to you. You’ve been here for less than three weeks and you decide to let that loser in your bed.”

Sitting up, I slap the table defensively and get closer to his face, letting him see the anger in my eyes. “I don’t want to ever hear you call Cale a loser again.” I grind my jaw, trying to hold myself back from screaming. “Cale has been in my life a lot longer than you have, and he’s always been there for me. You don’t even know him, so don’t you dare judge him.”

The conversation comes to a halt again when our plates are set down in front of us. I’m so angry right now that I almost let my mouth run, not caring that someone else is listening to our conversation. No one gets to talk shit about Cale without getting an earful from me. This man has been everything to me for as long as I can remember.

The waitress smiles at us and tells us to enjoy, before walking away.

I shove my fork into my food and start eating as fast as I can. The faster I eat, the faster I can get this stupid dinner over with. I don’t know what he expected to accomplish out of this dinner, but I hope he didn’t expect to win me back, because this definitely isn’t working.

“Calm down, Riley.” Tyler reaches over the table and grabs my fork out of my hand. “Talk to me for a minute. I’m not trying to piss you off. I just want answers. You don’t think this hurts me? I’m hurt right now. This hurts me.”

I lean back in my seat and take a few breaths to calm myself. “I don’t want to fight, okay, but if you keep running your mouth and saying things about Cale then I’m going to leave and never speak to you again. He doesn’t deserve you bad-mouthing him when he has done nothing but take care of me.”

Tyler’s jaw flexes, as he looks me over. I can tell that he’s fighting really hard not to tell me how he feels about my words.

“Let’s forget about this guy for a minute then and talk about us. What about us? Are you really willing to just throw two years away as if it meant nothing to you?”

I sit up and let out a humorous laugh. I can’t believe he’s going there right now. “Oh . . . I don’t know, Tyler. I was wondering the same thing when you decided to back out of our relationship right when we were supposed to get on a damn plane. Apparently our two years together didn’t mean shit to you, so why should it mean anything to me now? Tell me!”

Tyler stands up and rushes over to my side of the table, scooting his way onto my bench. “I made a mistake. A huge mistake.” He reaches for my face, but I turn away from him. “Riley. Please look at me. I love you. I’m in love with you. After you left, it made me realize how much of an idiot I was for not going with you. I’m here now and we can be together.”

I shake my head and run my hands over my face. I don’t want to be hearing this right now. I’ve waited for what seems like forever to hear him tell me he loves me again, and now . . . now here he is at the worst possible time ever and it doesn’t mean anything to me.

“I don’t want to hear that now, Tyler. I’m sorry, but I’m over what we had. This dinner and conversation are confirming that for me. I don’t feel anything. I’m so sorry. I want to be with Cale. I always have.”

Tyler stands up and starts pacing in front of the booth. “He’s a fucking stripper, Riley.” He narrows his eyes at me when I give him a surprised look. “Yeah, I’ve done my research on your little boyfriend. Is that what you really want? Huh?” He sits back down, but on his side of the table. “A man that takes off his clothes for other women and then comes home horny and ready for you? How do you know what he does at that club? What makes you think that he’s not getting off on these women touching him? Open your eyes, Riley. He could have any of those women, all of the ass he wants. He’ll never be faithful to you and you’re stupid if you think he will be.”