Walk Of Shame(144)

I smile small, appreciative of his compliment, before pulling away a bit. “Thanks.”

We both stand here in an awkward silence before Tyler holds up his keys and dangles them. “I guess we should get going. We’ll discuss the restaurant on the road. Sound good?”

I nod my head and reach for the door handle. “Sounds like a plan.”

As soon as I shut the door behind me, my heart starts racing at the realization that this isn’t Cale’s truck. This is another man’s vehicle. My ex’s to be more specific; the man that I slept next to for two years. It feels so wrong being here with him and every bit of my body is telling me this.

I sit stiffly, lost in my thoughts as Tyler hops in and shuts his door. Without any warning he reaches over and grabs my hand, pulling it into his lap like old times.

My first instinct is to pull away from him. It doesn’t feel right. Not like it used to. “No,” I say softly. “We’re not a couple anymore, Tyler. Please no touching.”

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.