Page 48 of Talk About… Rivalry

Taylor was relentless. He refused to let me go, holding on tight and offering his warmth.

For once, I just closed my eyes and soaked in the warmth of his embrace. The tight hug grounded me until the tears started to ebb away and then eventually stopped.

My breath was still shaky, small sniffles breaking the silence as I scrambled to figure out what to say.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered into his embrace.

“No, you don’t get to apologize for his behavior. Hopefully the black eye I just gave him will make him think twice before talking to you like that again.”

“Wait, what?”

“Look, he asked for it,” Taylor defended. “Now please come eat. I’m taking my lunch and I put in my order already, so I’ll eat with you.”

“No, I don’t want you to miss out on work.” Having him lose out on money would only make me feel worse.

“Sidney, the only reason I wait tables is because you come. My family owns this place, I’m a floor manager and I do behind the scenes things like inventory and bookkeeping.”

“What?”

That felt like the only word in my vocabulary during this conversation and he let out a little laugh.

“Sidney, I wanted to ask you out for a long time. In fact, that first day you walked in, I forced the waiter to give me your table.I just helped out around the room to make it look like I was supposed to be there and not just a pathetic omega, pining after this sexy woman who didn’t know I existed yet.”

That revelation hit me square in the chest, stealing my breath away.

It was a glimmer of hope that I never expected. If he would do all of that without knowing my scent. Then maybe I could give him a chance.

If I could give him a chance, could I do the same to Maverick?

That look he gave me before he accepted the date was loaded. He wanted me, we just had skirted around it for so long. Maybe it was time to stop.

Then the doubts kicked in.

Maybe I was just clinging to anything that could bring me joy and pull me out of the slump.

As I looked up at Taylor’s gorgeous, blue eyes, I found it impossible to deny him.

“Okay,” I finally relented. Taylor stepped back and held out a hand. I was still shaky so the moment he had me on my feet he tucked my arm in his to keep me steady.

This moment felt monumental and the smile he rewarded me with was everything. It lit up his entire face, dimples deepening on his cheeks. One of his curls fell in front of his eyes but he didn’t seem to mind.

He was too busy focusing on me. His gaze was swirling with hope and I couldn’t find it in me to dash it.

He finally broke that stare, letting out a little chuckle as he led me inside again.

“Sorry, sometimes I look at you and get a little lost,” he said.

The sincerity to the cheesy words had me biting back a laugh.

“So cheesy,” I teased.

He winked in response. “Only for you, sunshine.”

The happy bubble faded as we made our way back to the table. The asshole was still sitting at his table when I walked up, holding his cold water glass to his eye.

The pure venom he glared at me with now made me shiver.

“Ignore him,” Taylor said firmly, putting my back to Leo again. He sat across from me so I had someone to focus on.

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