Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
EMILY
The entire dinner, we ate and talked. I don’t even know what we talked about, really. I told him more about myself than I probably should have. Thankfully, though, the topic of sex didn’t come up. I don’t know why, but that’s something I’m not ready to discuss with him.
I’m embarrassed about my past. About the rumors that I created and fed.
Because that’s what I did. He asked me about my family, and I told him what I felt comfortable sharing, which was that I didn’t have anything to do with my mother; that is, until she comes to my place and pretty much demands it… until she finds another guy.
Thankfully, he didn’t look at me with pity. I don’t think I would have been able to handle it if he had. He tells me a little bit about his family, about his parents and his grandparents. If I had an inkling that his childhood wasn’t pretty damn perfect, it’s all been washed away.
Sure, he’s been through some heartache. His dad’s death was the saddest moment of our conversation, but his relationship with his brothers seems to be the most beautiful part of the whole thing.
I wish I had that.
I find myself a little envious of him, of his life. Not because it’s so perfect and wonderful, but because they had each other to go through the trauma and heartache together. I’ve never had anyone to share my miseries with.
It’s just been me.
When we’ve finished eating, Baylor calls the waiter over.
That’s when I excuse myself to the bathroom.
I don’t want to be there when he pays the bill.
I’m seriously a little upset that he ordered all that food, especially since I calculated each item in my head, and the bill is more than I make in a week.
Once I’ve done my business, I start to open the stall door when I hear two people talking. I pause. I don’t recognize their voices, but I do recognize the subject.
It’s me.
“I cannot believe she’s here with Baylor. I wonder what kind of bullshit lie she sold him.”
“She probably didn’t sell anything. I bet she’s going to let him fuck her in the ass or something. Did you see all the food they had on their table? No way he’s going to buy that and not expect some anal.”
My eyes close slowly as I hold on to the door handle.
How the hell am I going to get out of here without them seeing?
I’m so embarrassed, and it’s not because I’ve done any of these things.
It’s because I’ve let people believe so many lies like this in the past that they'll believe everything and anything.
“Did you see what she was wearing?”
One of them snorts. “Yeah, she looks exactly like the trailer trash she is.”
I bite my bottom lip so hard that I taste blood. I need them to leave right fucking now. Thankfully, I hear the door open and close, the voices fade, and I let out a heavy sigh.
I count to ten before I open the bathroom stall. Slipping out, I walk over to the sink and start to wash my hands when another stall door opens. I lift my gaze and connect with Shandy’s in the mirror.
I don’t know her well, only that she moved here a couple of years ago and she’s Lola-Mae’s best friend from her hometown. I’m sure she fucking hates everything there is to hate about me. I suck in a breath, holding it as she steps up to the sink beside me.
“Those girls are bitches, honey. Ignore them.”
Turning the faucet off, I clear my throat as I reach for the paper towels. “They’re just repeating things I’ve let people believe for years. It doesn’t matter.”
She reaches out, taking some paper towels as well, but before I can slip out of the bathroom, her hand curls around my wrist, stopping me from walking away. Turning my head, I look over my shoulder at her.
“Shandy?”
She releases my hand, so I turn to face her. “Ignore them, Emily. I’ve been the town slut and the town white trash before. The only way to get out of that is to move to another town.”
She’s probably not wrong. “I can’t afford to leave,” I confess in a whisper.
“I get that, too,” she murmurs. “But I’m just saying, they’re never going to stop.”
I almost tell her to get fucked. I cannot leave because if I could, I would have years ago.
I press my lips together and take a step backward.
As much as I would love to just reinvent myself and move to another town where an imaginary friend works and is now married to one of the most eligible bachelors in town, I don’t have that option.
“That’s okay,” I whisper. “I have thick skin.”
And even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t give a shit, and I would never admit it. Giving her a smile, I turn around and walk out of the bathroom, heading straight for the table where Baylor is still sitting.
As soon as I approach, he lifts his gaze to meet mine and his lips curve up into a smile.
“Hey,” he murmurs as he stands.
I watch as he picks up a paper bag. The conversations from the bathroom, both of them, completely vanish at the sight of said bag. “What’s that?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Something for later.”
My heart slams so hard against my chest that I’m not sure if it’s going to actually stay inside my body or not. A million thoughts swirl around inside my head. I can’t even think about the women in the bathroom.
All I can think about is what’s in that bag and what it means later. I really hope later means what I think it means, but then it would probably make what those bitches in the bathroom were saying true.
He wants to be repaid for the dinner.