Page 17 of Dash

“Why hadn’t I heard about this?” he asks, clearly not going to let it go.

“It just happened,” I say with a careless shrug, wanting him to know that I’m okay with it. That his little girl’s heart is not torn open. It was but for different reasons.

“Well, I guess it’s better off you guys break up before marriage.” He nods to me.

I nod back not really knowing how to respond to that. At one point, I saw myself marrying him. Then at another point, I saw myself cutting him into little pieces and burying him in the backyard of our spring Villa where we would be living. Either way, I would have gone totally insane. The waiter chooses this time to come and take our order and then silence falls on the table as I look around the restaurant. It’s a Saturday night, so it is fairly busy. Its lack of bright lights and whispers of others makes me comfortable.

“Tell me, Tabatha. What do you do?” Dash asks getting my attention.

Oh. So, he wants to play this game? The one where we act like we haven’t rolled around naked. “I’m a student.” I can play. I also work for my dad. But he doesn’t need to know that.

He just nods. “What do you do besides race bikes?” I ask curiously. I had never heard of him before. I’m surprised my father chose him to join the team.

“That’s about it,” he says as he bites into a roll.

“College?” I question.

He shakes his head. “Racing.”

I want to roll my eyes at him, but instead, I look over at my father. “Where did you find him?”

He looks offended that I asked. His eyes move to Dash before they come back to me. “He’s the best there is.” He gestures to him.

I expect Dash to give me a smug smile. Instead, he’s watching me intently. He tilts his head to the side as his gray eyes continue to stare into mine. I want to look away, but that would show weakness. It would show him how much he affects me. So, what, we had sex once? I can handle that. I lick my lips as I remember the other things he did to me while lying by my parents’ pool. The motion of my tongue has his eyes dropping to my lips, and I’m thankful to look away. I pick up my glass of water since my mouth is feeling dry all of a sudden.

“So, tell me more about this Rodger guy?” He finally speaks.

I stop my drink halfway to my mouth. “What about him?” I try to say nicely but fail. Why does he want to know about my ex?

“How long were you guys together?”

“A year.”

“How did you meet him?”

“College.”

“Why did you guys break up?”

I tilt my head to the side and narrow my eyes. “Why should any of this concern you?”

“Sweet pea,” my father speaks, “he’s just curious. And I am, as well.”

I throw Dash a go to hell look before I turn and speak to my father. I already told them why. “It was just over.” I shrug carelessly. I’m not going to admit that he had made me a different person or that I was suffocating.

“And he just walked away? Like that?” my father asks sitting back in his chair. Not buying it. “He seemed too much like a boy in love to just let you go so easily.”

I hate how perceptive my father is. He sees everything! Even things I don’t want him to see. “I broke up with him,” I say. “He was thinking about moving away next fall for school, and he wasn’t planning on me going. So where would that have left us? A long-distance relationship?” I shake my head. I wouldn’t do that.

“He would move away from you?” my father says, giving his head a shake. “My sweet pea deserves better than that.”

I actually smile. “I think he’s changed his mind about moving. He wants another try,” I state before thinking about what I just said. I look up at Dash; his jaw is tight, and his eyes look dangerously dark—I smile to myself. He’s jealous. He doesn’t want anyone else playing with his toy.

We hear ringing, and my dad fishes his phone out of his pocket. “I have to take this.”

As soon as my father walks away, Dash places his forearms on the table and speaks. “So, you still talk to him?” His voice is hard.

“Yes,” I say, and he lets out a growl that I almost miss. “He showed up at my house this morning. It wasn’t something I could have prevented. The bastard woke me up,” I whisper.

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