Page 30 of Monster Diner

“And it’s so well priced.”

“You should get it.”

“Where would I put it? My storage unit and car are already packed to the gills after moving out of my apartment.”

“Keep it at the house.”

“I should save my money.”

“I’ll buy it for you. It’s a steal, right?” Victor pulled the tag off the couch and took it up to the counter before she could protest.

The salesman came by and put a sold sticker on it and told them they’d deliver it to Frank’s house. Her chest swelled with anxiety. She wanted to stop him. But her knee-jerk desire to people-please kicked in. She thought he was willing to keep it casual, but furniture at his place felt far from that. It was too much. He always had a solution. She never had to think when he was around. He made it all so easy. Which made it that much harder to keep this casual. Were they on the same page? Had their lines gotten crossed? Should she say something?

With the couch bought and paid for, they left the store. Victor ushered her out the door and drove them over to a restaurant, one he’d listed on their itinerary. But while the food was great, the conversation was stilted. Her mind was a million miles away. She was doing it again. Letting others dictate her life, not thinking for herself. This was drifting into dangerous territory. First it was buying a couch and leaving it at his place. Then she’d already be second-guessing leaving. If she didn’t leave the day after Halloween, she’d end up extending her stay until she was living with him, back in the same rut and routine as with Steven. Letting Victor cross boundaries to appease him. Victor was cute and charming now, but how long before they started fighting, before the diner inevitably failed? They’d had a good couple days. What about all the others? Fighting over the diner had killed her parents’ marriage. How long before they were at one another’s throats?

They finished dinner and got back into the car in near silence.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked after a long stretch of silence.

“It’s nothing,” she said.

He pulled over to the side of the road and then turned in his seat to face her. Her hackles were up immediately. This was when he’d reveal his true nature. He’d be angry, petty, and demand something for buying her a big gift.

“I know you’re shutting down and trying to lock me out. What’s bothering you?”

His concern shocked her, but this could be another manipulation tactic. She crossed her arms. She hated confrontation, but she also knew that ignoring it wouldn’t do them any good.

“Buying that couch for me, it’s tethering me to you. Giving me a reason to stay, move in, whatever,” she mumbled.

“I’m not trying to entrap you. It was a gift. I’m trying to be good for you—” He seemed to catch what he was saying and cut himself off, staring out towards the empty highway.

“I don’t expect perfection from you, Victor. And I don’t need it either.”

Her chest squeezed tighter. His words were toeing the line of the sort of guilt and manipulation Steven would use on her.

“Of course. All I’m saying is the garage is full of stuff from my old place. And equipment from the diner I’m planning to fix. You can keep it there until you get settled. No strings attached.”

She was silent for a beat, wanting desperately to believe him but afraid of getting her heart broken again. She’d been let down so many times by other men.

“Promise me when Halloween passes that you won’t try to convince me to stay. That this can remain casual.”

He stared at her a moment, and she held her breath. Then he nodded slowly. “I promise. I’ll let you go when the time comes.”

She should have felt relieved, but instead she felt that numbness threatening to creep back in. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

The silence was cut through by a text alert.

Victor fished his phone out and tapped on it before looking up at her. “Brayden asked to sleep over at a friend’s house. I told him he could…”

“Then, we’ll be all alone,” she said.

“If you want to be alone with me?” he asked.

“Yeah. I do.” Her time with Victor was limited, but the greed in her was deep. She wanted it to remain casual, and she’d thought once was enough, but she’d been a fool to think so. If they were on the same page, both willing to walk away after Halloween as friends, perhaps they could still have fun together. “Unless I have completely turned you off of me?”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” His gaze became heated. The tension in the truck cab shifted, and she squirmed in her seat. It was easier to push feelings aside and just focus on the sex. He reached over to her and squeezed her thigh, and she spread her legs, letting his hand drift up and up, but he didn’t go any further, no matter how she squirmed in her seat, eager for contact.

“Not here, not when there’s a bed back home waiting for us,” he said.