Page 113 of The One I Hate
I nod and let out a chuckle, because that doesn’t surprise me.
“Why are you laughing? Aren’t you jealous?”
“Are you jealous of my past boyfriends?”
“Yes,” he says firmly. “How many are we talking?”
“Simon...” I reach across the table and take each of his hands. “There was a fifteen-year gap of time when neither of us wanted to think about each other. In fact, once you accidentally came up in conversation with Mellie, and I broke a plate.”
“Did you drop it because you remembered me as the hot guy you let get away?”
“No. I threw it against the wall and got suspended because I swore so loud customers heard me.”
“You still thought of me. I’ll take that as a win.”
Simon adds a wink that only makes me laugh.
“As I was saying, there were a lot of years where neither of us would have ever thought that this would happen. Especially the happenstance of seeing each other, and then the diner, and the baby.”
Simon tenses slightly before relaxing again. “What I’m saying is that we have histories separate from each other. That’s what happens when you’re adults in relationships.”
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am,” I say as I put my attention back toward my lasagna. I don’t know what the secret is in this tomato sauce, but I’m half tempted to ask the chef. “So back to the original question…what don’t you know about me?”
He thinks about it for a second. “What’s your biggest fear?”
“Easy. Failure.”
“In the general sense or anything specific?”
“Both? In general, I don’t want to let down the people in my life. The diner is a big part of that.”
“Understandable.”
“But it’s more than just if the diner does well or not. I left Connor and Lila in Nashville to pursue this. I promised my mom on her death bed that I’d take this leap. Mona trusted me with her space. Mellie left her job. If this doesn’t work, and I fail, I’ll be letting so many people down.”
Now it’s Simon’s turn to take my hand. “It sounds like you’re more scared of failing others than failing yourself.”
Interesting. I never thought of it like that. “I guess I am. And there are so many more to consider. You for one.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You’re invested in this.”
This makes Simon go still. “How am I invested?”
“I mean, there’s the fact that you overnighted basically a whole new restaurant to me. Which I’m going to pay you back for. And how supportive you’ve been. I feel like you’re in this with me.”
He lets out a breath like he’s relieved. “Yes, I do feel like I’m in this with you, but you have to know, there is no way I’d ever think you failed. No matter what happens. And you’re never paying me back for those booths or tables. Those were a gift.”
“Of course you’d say that.”
“And I mean every word.”
He brings up my hand and places a kiss below my knuckles.
“Okay enough about me. What about you? Biggest fear?”
