Page 77 of For Butter or Worse
Nina:Are you seeing these?
She looked at the messages, which weren’t actually marked as delivered. Had he turned off his phone? Fuck it, she wasn’t going to wait. She called him, but immediately got his voice mail. Okay, so his phone wasdefinitelyoff. She gritted her teeth. If she hoped to smooth over his hurt feelings, she’d just have to go to him in person and show Leo that she was sincerely sorry.
She grabbed her phone and bag and made her way toward the front. Nina straightened as her mind cleared. She and Leo would talk about a way to move forward. Maybe this accidental tension would be a good thing after all.
“I’m going to talk to Leo.”
Jasmine stuck her head out of the kitchen window. “Take the day and think about your options. I don’t want you making any rash—”
A gentle knock at the front door made both of their heads turn. The unmistakable, hulking frame of Charlie was just outside. He looked through the glass and nodded to Nina, a cocky smirk on his face.
“He knows we have very sharp knives in this kitchen, doesn’t he?” Jasmine held one up for emphasis.
Nina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fully aware that she’d have to deal with this mess before making things right with Leo.
29
LEO
Leo’s thighs strained, each muscle tightening then relaxing, only to firm right back up. He’d only been running for a few minutes, but each step was like trying to kick at a wall of sand. He squinted through beads of sweat. The air was stiff with heat—one of those unseasonably warm November LA days—making the run feel irritatingly like punishment.
To be fair, he deserved the torture. He hadn’t had time to work out at his usual clip while playing fake boyfriend to Nina, and it wasn’t just that he was out of practice. He’d been distracted, waiting for Nina to text him back, and wondering if they would ever get to...
Boom, boom, boom. He kept his feet thudding across the pavement, needing to push through his anxiety. So she hadn’t responded to any of his very witty and carefully crafted texts. So what? And when she did finally respond, she’d called off their relationship.
Big deal. That’s exactly how they had operated before. He’d lived a passive-aggressive existence with her not so long ago, so he could do the same again, right?
The shittiest part was that even though she’d indicated how much she didn’t want to be with him, he was still attracted to her. She’d laid eggs in his brain and quietly crafted a web without him noticing.
As long as he didn’t go back home, he was safe, because then he’d be reminded of all of the places they’d hung out in his house, or he might pick up a pillow from his bed and smell it to capture just a hint of her cinnamon scent. Not that he’d been pathetic enough to try that...more than a few times.
Vinny’s was just five miles from his house, which would put him five miles away from thinking about her. His phone was off, and he planned to keep it that way for the rest of the day. He’d push through the physical pain and make his way there, however slowly.
“See, when you show up like this—all sweaty but still looking better than me—that’s a problem.” Gavin stood in the doorway of the restaurant, his apron already spattered tomato-red from prepping the sauce for the lunch rush. He waved Leo inside. “Rami Malek has a twin brother.”
“Does he? And is his twin as irritating as you?” Leo skillfully dodged a shoulder punch from his brother.
“You need to tone down the brooding, smoldering thing.” Gavin stood taller, crossed his arms and glared. “I’m not going to be Rami’s forgotten twin. I refuse.”
“I did ask if you wanted to join me on the run, did I not?”
“Do you know how much work it’s taken to get a body this dense? I’ve had to channel Dad’s carb-loading for years. Becoming the human equivalent of garlic bread hasn’t been an easy journey for me.”
“I can only imagine.” Leo had hoped being with Gavin in the restaurant would take his mind off Nina, but he just kept wondering if she’d even bothered to read his response. He wasn’t about to check his phone to find out. He wasn’t that desperate...was he?
“Okay, you’re not even laughing at my jokes now? Unacceptable. Sit down.” Gavin placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and led him to a four-top, forcefully sitting him in a chair. “I know you don’t like talking about your feelings.”
“That’s not true. I just don’t talk about them with you.”
“I’m going to cut through the bullshit—is this about Nina?”
Yes, I’m losing my mind.“Yes.” Leo surprised himself by telling his brother the truth. He clenched, then unclenched his fists. He’d been sweating when he came in, and now his body started to shiver from the combination of sweat and the AC. “She just...she doesn’t want to see me anymore.”
“Tell me exactly what she said.” Gavin sat across from him, his forearms on the table, ready to listen.
And the whole story spilled out, without any further prodding needed. He told Gavin about their dates, about Nina opening up to him, how they’d kissed, then slept together. He couldn’t even stop himself from telling Gavin that he was head over heels in deep feels for her.
“You have a crush on a sexy, strong business owner—worse things have happened,” Gavin said.
