Page 15 of No Broken Promises

“No. I don't want it,” I tell him bitterly.

“But…” His eyebrows narrow in confusion. “I don't understand. I thought you'd want to know.”

“For what?” My voice holds more than a little bit of acid in it. “So that I can drag Nox through the experience all over again? Or so I can confront the person who did it and find out they hate animals or did it on purpose? Maybe it was an old lady who thought she hit a deer. Or a teenager who didn't mean to and thought it was a log or something.”

Shaking my head, I take a step back and try not to feel bad about the immediate regret and hurt I can see reflected in Artie's eyes.

“I'm sorry,” he says just a little too quickly. “I wasn't trying to hurt you or cause you any type of problem. I wanted to help. That's what friends do.”

I don't answer him. I don't know what to say, and honestly, I am not feeling even remotely able to process anything I might find on the drive. But that’s not his fault.

“I'll talk to you later, Artie. Tell Taylor I said ‘hi,’ okay?”

I practically run away, leaving one of my oldest friends standing alone in the middle of Lucy's. I can't even bring myself to care. I am so busy trying to get away that I almost run into someone walking through the door to the restaurant.

“Excuse me.” I try to maneuver around the woman, but she steps right into my path at the last second.

We collide and I hit the ground with a resounding thud. My head hits something hard, and then I feel it slam on the ground, and I black out for a second. Stars dance behind my eyes, and I try not to move as a wave of nausea threatens to bring back up the fries I'd valiantly tried to eat.

“Parker!” Violet Ortiz, the hostess working for the afternoon, calls my name, sounding worried as I blink up at the bright lights in the ceiling. Still unwilling to move as the room spins around me, I wave her off.

“I'm okay,” I groan and blink a few times.

“Well, I'm not,” the woman I'd collided with snaps. Of course it has to be Margaret, Taylor’s best friend and someone who undoubtedly did it on purpose. “She stepped on my toes, and these are brand-new shoes. She should have to pay for them out of her tips.”

“Ma'am.” I try to sit up, but another wave of nausea hits me hard.

I rub the back of my head gently, trying to figure out what I'd hit, and come away with a wet spot of blood on the back of my head.

“Fuck.” I do my best to sit up and then stand, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without Violet's help. “Damn, that hurts.”

Somehow, I've completely forgotten about the woman I'd run into, even though she has the most annoying voice I've ever heard in my life. Unfortunately, when I turn around, my hand carefully applying pressure to the back of my head, she is still there, glaring at me like I just ruined her life.

Why do Taylor and her friends have to act like assholes? We graduated forever ago, and I didn’t do anything to them. Nothing, and yet they still find every chance to step in my life and make it even harder than it has to be.

“Excuse me.” She completely ignores me in favor of addressing Violet. “I'd like to be seated, please.”

“You're gonna have to wait.” Violet, as sassy as the day I hired her, raises an eyebrow at the obviously rude woman and dares her to say anything about it.

The woman's mouth opens and then shuts again a second later, like she is shocked that anyone dares to speak to her that way.

“D-do you know who I am?” Her face grows bright red and she splutters.

Violet, who works as a hostess to help pay bills while she studies to go to medical school, doesn't bother letting go of me while she handles the woman.

If I'd been in a better state, I'd have handled her myself, but with the throbbing in my head and the fact that I am still seeing stars, it makes it almost impossible to speak, let alone kick her out of my restaurant.

“You're going to have to wait.” Violet enunciates each word slowly. “In case you didn't see, my manager, the woman you bowled over without a single fuck in the world, is bleeding and possibly has a concussion. If you can't hold your damn horses for five minutes, you can eat somewhere else.”

The lady opens her mouth to say something, but Violet cuts her off. “No, to answer your question. I don't know who you are, and I don't care that you’re used to being treated like the prom or homecoming queen that you were half a decade ago. You’re an adult, and you should act like one.”

We’ve started to attract an audience, and the woman begins threatening to call the police about the situation, when I snap.

“Do it, ma'am. I don't care. In fact, Violet.” I turn to her with a grimace from the pain. “Do me a favor and call Birch PD. Get a report filed and give them a copy of the surveillance. I think I need to go to the hospital.”

The room spins around me, and if Violet didn't have me by the arm, I'd have fallen on my ass again.

“Yep,” Violet agrees with a sharp nod. “Let's get you sat down.”

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