And I had zero fucking interest in partaking in that even though I knew exactly what a repeat with the three of them would involve.
Wait …
I blinked, scanning their faces again while remembering what was being offered up. Really remembering. Yep.
Zero fucking interest.
My mouth twitched. Motherfucker. I’d been claimed. Tori Rivera owned my shit. And I was more than okay with that.
“Jesus,” I muttered, shaking my head through a laugh.
“What?” Becca asked shyly.
“Yeah. What, Jamie?” Sue asked, leaning forward with curiosity.
Movement caught my attention, and I turned to watch Tori take the remaining steps to reach the booth, eyes holding mine, looking hard but also looking filled with hurt, lips pinched together, cheeks hot, and my glass of Cherry Coke in her hand.
“Here.” She leaned down and sat my glass in front of me. “Your order’s just been put in. It’ll be out in ten and Syd will bring it to you,” she said, voice shaking a little.
Syd will bring it to me? What the fuck? Brow furrowing, I reached for her. “Babe.”
Tori straightened, stepped back so I couldn’t touch her, and then turned to Sue, sticking her hand on her hip and raising a finger to point directly in her face. “You need to leave,” she snapped, voice shaking for a different reason now. She was pissed.
“Excuse me?” Sue asked, looking offended.
“Leave. None of you are getting served,” Tori continued. “And if you ever come back here, you aren’t getting served, so don’t bother. We keep the garbage out back. You’re hungry? Go ahead and pick through it. I’m sure you’ll feel right at home.”
“Legs, what the hell?”
Where the fuck was this coming from?
“Hey, you can’t talk to my sister like that,” Amy hissed, sitting taller like she was fixing to climb over the other two to get to Tori, who when I looked at her was standing less defensively now, her one hand sliding off her hip and the other pressing flat to her stomach.
She blinked, her chest rising and falling severely. “She’s your sister?” Tori asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Amy replied, heavy on the attitude. “They both are. And you aren’t going to talk to them like that.”
Tori ignored Amy and turned her head to look at me instead. The hurt was back in her eyes but it was mixed with something.
Disgust.
I stared at her. I didn’t understand why she was looking or acting the way she was. Wasn’t like I was flirting with them or appearing the least bit interested.
“Hey, don’t I know you?” Becca questioned, speaking up for the first time. “You look really familiar …”
I watched Tori slowly turn her head and glare at Becca. Her nostrils flared. They stared at each other for several breaths, then Becca snapped her fingers and pointed, waving at Legs.
“Ohhh, that’s right.” Becca dropped her hand to the table and nudged Sue, leaning into her to ask, “Remember I told you I saw that girl watching us the night of the party?”
My eyes sliced to Tori. Something pinched in the center of my chest.
Fuck. She saw me with them. She came looking for me that night.
“Oh, yeah,” Sue replied, appearing to think back to that conversation. “That was you?”
I watched Tori squeeze her eyes shut and draw in a breath, then she turned her head and slowly looked at me as Amy muttered an indifferent, “Huh. Small world.”
Heat burned across Tori’s cheeks. She was embarrassed. And I knew why.
God-fucking-damn it.
I slid to the edge of the bench, moving to stand so I could explain and do it touching her.
“You can leave, too,” Tori informed me.
I froze, held her eyes for a breath, then wiped my hand down my mouth. “Babe, look—”
“I’d like you to leave, Jamie. I’m asking you to leave,” she repeated, her voice back to shaking again. She turned her head and glared at the Baker sisters. “Get out,” she snapped. “Or I’ll have Stitch remove you.”
“Who is Stitch?” Sue asked, but Tori was already moving away, fleeing in the direction of the kitchen but she wasn’t stopping there.
I knew where she was headed.
“Jeez. What was her problem?”
I looked to Amy after she spoke, eyes hard and jaw tight. “Get the fuck outta here,” I ordered.
Amy blinked. Her face went slack, wiped clean of attitude, and she pushed into Becca with her shoulder, saying, “Get up,” on a hurried voice.
I was standing before Sue had a chance to get up and pushing past her when she finally stood, causing her to gasp and lean back into her sisters so she wouldn’t collide with me.
Smart move.
I kept walking, heading to the back of the restaurant and passing Syd, who was standing behind the bar, arms crossed over her chest and face in a scowl.
“Check that attitude, Sunshine. I’m handlin’ it,” I called out.
“I’ll check it once it’s handled, thank you very much,” she returned at my back, possibly going heavier on the attitude since I was telling her to do the opposite.
Jesus. Forgot how good she was at hating on me. Between Tori and Syd, I was sure they could teach a fucking class on it.
I reached the back of the restaurant and the door to the employee lounge I saw Tori disappear behind, and pushed through it. Legs was pacing in front of the lockers but stopped when she saw me, head lifting, breath getting pulled in sharply and eyes going round with alarm.