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Before Tobias can complete the words that are sure to have me on my knees in front of him right here in this parking lot, we both hear a car door close nearby, and it makes him snap his mouth shut. I think Tobias went a little further with his confession than he meant to, but I really want him to continue. That is, until another voice, completely unwelcome, speaks up and inserts itself into our little sphere. It’s literally the last voice on earth I want to hear right now.
Ricky Terrazas, my asshole ex, struts over from where he parked but stops in his tracks when he sees Tobias standing in front of me. All of his attention leaves me and is on Tobias in a second. “Dad? Why are you here?”
3
TEAGAN
It’s hard to look away from Tobias, but I have to get Ricky out of here, and fast. I’m so pissed about him showing up at my work when I specifically told him not to, that I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears. Because of that, it takes me a second to process the words that just came out of his stupid mouth.
Did he say…Dad? While looking at Tobias?
Oh no…no no. Hell no. No freaking way. This can’t be happening.
“Dad?” I say weakly, looking back at Tobias. The older man gazes deep into my eyes, curses, and strides past me to intercept Ricky before he can get any closer.
I shouldn’t eavesdrop…but it’s my ex and my customer, right? And Ricky came here to bother me, so it’s technically my business.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Tobias forces out the words between his teeth.
Ricky looks baffled. “What do you mean, old man? I’m here to see my girl.”
My stomach flips inside of me, a distinct feeling of ickiness hitting me when I hear him refer to me as his girl. I made it as clear as humanly possible that I wasn’t interested anymore.
My reaction might be strong, but Tobias’ puts mine to shame. I see his hands clench into fists and the way he looms over Ricky like a mountain. “I don’t care who you’re here to see, Ricky. It’s time to go.”
My ex shakes his head. “Nah, Dad. She’s right there. I just need to have a few words with her.”
My eyes flutter closed in horror, and I wish I had something to lean on because I feel like I might hit the ground all of a sudden. How in the heck is the first man to ever really interest me the dad of my ex-boyfriend? What are the chances? How is that even fair?
I wish the ground would just open up and swallow me whole. I hate this. I hate everything.
“I don’t know who you think she is to you.” Tobias’s voice is so rough I can almost feel it across my skin. “But she’s not your fucking girl, Ricky. Get the hell out of here.”
Ricky shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. When his father did the same motion, it made me weak in the knees. Now it just makes me cringe. “Dad, listen. You’re ruining my flow here.”
A thread of amusement cuts through Tobias’s anger, and he snorts. “Flow?”
“Yeah. Hold on.” Ricky jogs back to his car—a sleek but ostentatiously yellow Jaguar—and pulls out a bouquet of flowers. It would be romantic if it was anyone else, but it’s so obviously a grocery store bouquet of dyed daisies and carnations that it’s almost sad. The bouquet couldn’t have been more than $3.99. He brandishes it as he approaches, but Tobias takes one single step in front of him to block his way before Ricky can get near me again.
“See? I brought her flowers. Miss Teagan here just got cold feet about being with a man like me, but I’m here to reassure her that everything is just fiiiine.” He smiles that slimy smile that I hate so much, and I want to turn tail and run back into the diner.
I met Ricky for the first time when I ran into a gas station near the diner between shifts, desperate for an energy drink. I dropped the silver can on his foot, my heart dropping to the floor when I saw how expensive those shoes I just scuffed were, but Ricky had just laughed and assured me that he had plenty more sneakers.
He had been…sweet, and the fact that he took interest in me halfway through a double shift with my hair all crazy and food on my apron had charmed me despite myself. It was nice to be wined and dined, to be picked up in his fancy car and have the other girls at work be envious of me, but it didn’t take long for me to see just why Ricky was single.
He was obsessive and so pushy. We had only known each other for a few weeks, and there was no way in hell I was going to do more than kiss a guy I barely knew. Ricky had other ideas, though, and him hovering outside the diner and the apartment I shared with Naomi all the time was the final straw. I ghosted him a week ago, only telling him to his face that I was dumping him when he confronted me right here in the parking lot three days ago. I thought humiliating him would have made even rich Ricky get the hint. But of course, here he is at the worst time possible.
At least I know now that Tobias is his father. It would have been awkward for that to come up later. Still…I’m having a horrible time right now, and I just want this uncomfortable meeting to be over with.
It takes a lot of willpower, but I manage to force a reply to Ricky out, even if my voice squeaks just a little. “Ricky, I already told you we’re done and I’ll call the police next time you show up.” I clench my own hands into fists now, but just to stop them from shaking. “Take your sad flowers and leave!”
Tobias looks at me, his eyebrows raising and a look of approval coming into his gaze. Ricky, on the other hand, looks pissed. Embarrassed and pissed. A dangerous combination in men, I’ve come to learn. Oh, crap. I’ve just humiliated him in front of his Dad. This might not go very well…
But before Ricky can reply, Tobias stalks over to him, takes the cheap bouquet from his son’s hands, and launches it across the parking lot, petals floating down to the asphalt behind it like multicolored snow. Ricky watches it go through the air, his jaw falling open. “Dad, what the hell?—”
“You heard the woman. Get the hell out of here, Ricky.”
Ricky looks between me and his father, a suspicious look on his face. “Hey, you still haven’t told me why you’re even here.”
