Page 37 of Return To You

I snort, picking up my coffee, and state, “He seems to think I cheated, so somehow, even if he knows of Diego’s existence, he won’t believe the paternity anyway; he’s too busy sleeping around, living the high life.”

I can’t help the bitterness in my voice. I resent Noah, my father, my brother…. They all left me to fend for myself when I dideverythingfor them.

Natalie’s dark brown eyes blaze with anger, and she opens her mouth to speak, but the bell for the door tinkles, and we both wince, not ready to get back to work. However, Katie is paying me double, with childcare, so with a groan that makes Natalie grin, I stand and turn, but everything in me stills, my eyes locking on the dark blue ones I see every day in our son.

Noah….

He is wearing a dark gray V-neck, black ripped jeans, and boots. His hair is messy, and his muscles seem larger. My eyes take him in as he rolls…wait, hang on a second…is that atongue barhe’s rolling along his bottom lip?

When in the heck did he get his tongue pierced, and more importantly, why?

Jealousy fills me like no other, and this is why I made it my mission not to look him up over the past two years.

My eyes take him in again, lingering on his forearm tattoo with several more roses on it.

Why does this man have to look good every time I see him, or is it because he’s my only and my libido has decided to wake up?

Yeah, that must be it….

“Rose?” Natalie questions, snapping me out of my daze of jealousy, lust, and pain, so much goddamn pain.

Noah doesn’t move, keeping his sole focus on me, and I rasp, “Natalie, can you please take this customer?”

Natalie stands as Noah smirks and says, “I’m not going to disappear just because you’ve asked someone else to serve me, Petal; we need to talk.”

I flinch at his nickname for me and turn, my eyes tearing up while my body vibrates, hating the emotional hold he has over me.

Natalie realizes who he is by his nickname for me after the stories I’ve told, and she nods, standing with a wince, but carries on.

She tries to act professional, putting on a fake smile, and I head over to old man Tom, who’s put his hand up, grateful for the distraction. Natalie’s, “Just because you’re a rock star doesn’t mean I like you. I’m team Rose all day, every day,” hits my ears.

I smile a little at her support, but it soon fades when Noah replies, “Well, I’ll just have to win you over then, because I’m not going anywhere until Rose and I talk, something we should have done a few years back.”

That little….

I grit my teeth and smile at Tom, grabbing his plate just as the bell above the door tinkles again, and a girl’s whiny voicesqueals, “Oh my God, I knew I saw you come in here. You’re Noah Scott, the lead singer and songwriter for The Delinquents.”

Oh Lord, please give me strength.

“Can I hug you?” she squeals, and I flinch unintentionally as I go to the cubby hole where we put dirty dishes. I hand the plate to Peter, who raises his eyebrows, but I just send a sad smile in return, and grab the coffee pot from the warmer.

I don’t hear Noah’s reply to the girl, and I don’t look his way, but I do hear her disappointment when she says, “Damn, I thought they were just rumors…. Can I have an autograph? I have to tell you your song “My Petal” is my favorite….”

I nearly flinch again, that song being the first one he wrote about me when he was fifteen, but I push on as I fill up Tom’s coffee mug, and then walk over to the family of four who have just walked in, ensuring I don’t look at the guy who broke my heart but, in a way, made me stronger by leaving.

That’s the only thing I’m grateful for, with all this crap that has happened in my life; I’m stronger for it, even if I do seem older than my nineteen years.

I continue the rest of my shift, with Natalie and Peter checking in on me. Each time Peter has come out and given me a side hug, I hear a growl from the other side of the room, but I ignore it while hoping he’ll leave, but he doesn’t, he orders coffee after coffee.

It isn’t until my shift ends that he finally leaves, and I sigh in relief.

I’m not stupid. I know how he found me, just like my brother did, through my father, the traitor.

I don’t know why he followed me home, and honestly, I don’t care.Heran, not the other way around, and now I’m at a stage in my life where I’m just done. My only focus is on my son. He’s all I need, all I’ll ever need, not someone who believed in a lie, not family members who turned their backs on me.

Screw him and screw them….

I wave bye to Natalie as I walk out of the diner, hating that the bitterness I’ve tried to push away over the years is overcoming me. Heading to the bike I bought Noah, I again wish I’d bought a car when I could, because it would be extremely useful now, but I can’t afford to waste money.

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