Chapter 115 (1/2)

Tessa watches him go, then turns to me with a not-unpleasant smile.

“I’ll hail a cab,” I say, still talking myself down internally. What did I think? That she would still be figuring shit out?

Yeah, I guess I did.

“I usually walk.”

“You walk? Alone?” I regret asking the second part of that question the moment it leaves my fucking mouth. After a beat, I conclude, “He walks you home.”

She winces. “Only the shifts we work together.”

“How long have you been dating him?”

“What?” She stops us before we even make it around the corner. “We aren’t dating.” She creases her brows.

“Seems like it.” I shrug, trying my fucking hardest to not be a sulking asshole about it.

“We aren’t. We spend time together, but I’m not dating at all.”

Looking at her, I try to determine if she’s telling the truth. “He wants to. The way he touched your hand.”

“Well, I don’t. Not yet.” She stares down at her feet while we cross the street. There aren’t nearly as many people out as earlier today, but the streets are still far from empty.

“Not yet? You haven’t dated anyone?” I watch a fruit vendor pack up for the night while praying for the answer that I want to hear.

“No, I don’t intend to date for a while.” I feel her eyes on me when she adds, “Are you? Dating anyone, I mean?”

The relief I feel to find out that she hasn’t been dating is beyond words. I turn and smile at her. “No. I don’t date.” I hope she catches my joke.

And she does smile. “I’ve heard that before.”

“I’m a conservative guy, remember?”

She laughs but doesn’t add any commentary as we stroll block after block. I need to talk to her about walking home this late. I have spent night after night, week after week, trying to imagine how she’s living her life here. Her working long days as a waitress and wandering home in the darkness of New York City was not something that crossed my mind.

“Why are you working in a restaurant?”

“Sophia got me the job. It’s a really nice place, and I make more money than you would think.”

“More money than you would at Vance?” I ask her, knowing the answer.

“I don’t mind it. It keeps me busy.”

“Vance told me you didn’t even ask for a recommendation, and you know he’s planning on opening something here, too.”