Page 36 of Embers in Our Souls
Clay chuckles. “No, not like that. Um, Marissa’s girlfriend is back in California. She couldn’t make it out this time around. Marissa just wants to head out to dinner. There’s that new spot in town…” I can hear some rustling like he’s covering the phone, but it doesn’t do much to mute the sound while he calls out to his fiancée, “Abby, what’s that place we’re headed to with Marissa tonight?”
“¡Vita!” I can hear her answer in the background.
“¡Vita!” he says to me.
“Yes, I heard.”
“I hear it’s hard to get into. I think Kennedy pulled some strings to get reservations.”
“Okay, sounds good. What time should I meet you there?” I put the phone on speaker as I open a few more items on my counter.
“Seven. My mom is watching Ella and Lola. You know how River gets with all his weird instructions for the dog and Ella will be down for the night before we head out.”
We get the plans ironed out before we hang up. Something about going out, knowing it’s not a date, makes me excited. I need to distract myself. Workouts, social media posts, and work at the station aren’t cutting it anymore. All roads lead to Indy—I need something else. Maybe a night on the town will be just the thing to get my mind off my wife—or shall I say soon-to-be-ex-wife.
Just the thought of that makes my stomach roll. I hate the fact she will divorce me without knowing the real truth as to why I made her walk away from me five years ago. But it is what it is. She’s probably better off. I’m no good for her. Whoever this boyfriend is—he’s most likely a better fit.
¡Vita!is so busy that it feels like a fire code violation. From the moment we walk in, I feel claustrophobic. Kennedy looks to be in her element, but it’s thanks to her we got ourselves a table to begin with. She knows Sergio, the owner of the swanky new spot.
We’re currently being ushered to our table by the owner himself, who is showing us all the intricacies of the restaurant as we pass them. He has kept some of the old pieces of the building, trying to preserve old parts of Boston, while filtering in new things to make it more relevant to appeal to the newer generation.
The moment he saw me, he recognized me from my content. I promised I’d tag his restaurant in my stories tonight. The further we move through the restaurant, the more I realize how appealing this restaurant is. It has a nice feeling to it.
Abby’s best friend Marissa is a whole other factor altogether. From the moment I met her, I could tell she is—a lot. She is energetic and when she saw me, she took hold of my arm and hasn’t let go. Malloy’s smile grew and he hasn’t stopped smirking.
I know she isn’t attracted to me, but I know she’s trouble with a capital T. We are walking deeper into the restaurant, and Marissa is pointing at a sconce that’s high up on the wall. The glass has a beautiful rainbow effect of colors mixed in, a reflection on the wall that just adds to the ambiance of the dining experience.
I’m enthralled by the restaurant’s atmosphere, I’m not looking at any of the people around me until I hear my name being called.
“Tyler?” I hear a female’s voice calling.
I look to my left and that’s when I see Indiana sitting at a nearby table with a group of five people in a booth. Marissa and I both stop. It’s then I notice a gentleman sitting closer than the rest of those at the table. I assume it’s her boyfriend.
“Hey, Indiana,” I say, an easy-going smile taking over my face.
“What are you doing here?” she says, her eyes looking over at Marissa, landing on where we are joined.
“Oh, we’re here for dinner with my friends,” I jut my chin in the direction where Kennedy, River, Clay, Abby, Malloy, and Baylee walked off. “This is Marissa. Marissa, this is Indiana.”
Marissa doesn’t let go of where we are linked, but gives her the biggest smile. “It’s a pleasure. Isn’t this place amazing? Hunter has been promising to bring me here for the longest time. Right, baby?”
Then out of nowhere Marissa looks my way and nuzzles her face into my neck, and whispers under her breath, “Just go with it.”
I keep my gaze on Indy and I can see her assessing us. “This doesn’t seem like your scene, Ty.”
“Are you kidding? Hunter and I go out all the time. This guy doesn’t stop showing me off. I mean, he loves dancing all over town. This is just the appetizer tonight. Right, babe?” Marissa is too fucking much. I don’t know how Abby handles her as a best friend.
“Right,shnookums,” I ooze sarcasm, but I may as well have fun with it. The hell with the serious side of this whole thing. I wanted to have fun with my night; and Marissa is all about finding amusement in this moment, so I’ll join her.
“I’m Roger,” the gentleman to Indy’s right says.
Indiana seems to snap out of her assessment of Marissa and gains her composure. “I’m so sorry. This is my boyfriend, Roger.”
“Great to meet you, Roger. I’m Marissa and this is my hot-as-fuck man, Hunter,” she says as she runs her hand down my chest. She has no filter whatsoever. It’s hard to contain my laugh. I swear one of the other guys at the table nearly chokes mid-sip of his beer as a result of Marissa’s crass language.
I shake Roger’s hand, then he proceeds to introduce us to everyone at the table.
“You know, before both of you walked by, we were in a heated discussion that both of you could help us with,” Roger begins.
