But instead of looking like a depressed man sitting at the bar, nursing a drink, he had some whore perched on his lap, his hands at the hem of her very short skirt and her head nestled into the crook of the neck that I knew all too well.
Yes, he was a complete asshole earlier, and I was trying to be somewhat understanding, but this…this was all happening just to be rubbed in my face. He knew that I worked here again, and he probably knew that I would be here tonight. He was doing it on purpose, and I had no freaking clue why. The one thing that I did know was that it hurt like hell, even after not being with him for so long.
Deep in my heart, I just felt that we would be together again someday, but clearly, Justin wasn’t feeling the same way. Sure, the girl sitting on his lap was probably just one in a long line of many, but it said a lot. It said that he wanted to show me that I didn’t matter, that we were over and there was no hope. And to leave him the hell alone, which I definitely planned on doing. I didn’t need Justin Parker, and I didn’t want him anymore, either.
There was no way to not walk past him, so I did it as quickly as I could, darting my eyes to the ground until I reached the kitchen, breathing a sigh of relief when my hand landed on my timecard. How in the hell was I going to deal with him all night? I had a feeling he would hang around for a while, probably just to torture me.
“So, you saw that our boy is here?”
I turned around while I finished tying my apron around my waist, snorting at Kassie who was biting back a smile.
“Justin Parker is not my boy. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to be yours.”
“Been there, done that,” she muttered, before shoving an order pad at me. My back stiffened at the reminder that her and Justin had been together. It was just a one night stand, but knowing that Justin had a lot of those still stung, even though I shouldn’t care.
I didn’t care, really.
Kassie never really brought it up, though, and after fighting back a whole lot of jealousy after I found out, we ended up being pretty good friends. We worked together nearly every shift, and sometimes got together outside of work too.
“Well, I’m done with him.”
Kassie raised an eyebrow, knowing that I’d been waiting for a romantic reunion with Justin for a while now, but I shook my head at her. I really didn’t want to relive today by telling her what happened, and clearly Justin was busy, so I didn’t think it needed too much of an explanation.
“If you say so,” she replied in a singsong voice before sticking an order up on the line. “I saw Callie and Zoey show up a minute ago. You cool with taking the back section?”
“Absolutely.” I blew out a breath, snagging a pen as I headed out of the kitchen. At least in that section I wouldn’t have to see Justin constantly in my line of vision, probably one of the main reasons Callie and Zoey sat there. Their expressions as I approached their table confirmed that.
“What in the hell is Justin doing here? And why isn’t he trying to win you back instead of having some slut crawl all over his lap? What happened today, Della? I figured he would’ve been happy to see you. We should go beat his ass, right?”
I smiled slightly at Callie who, as usual, seemed to be talking a mile a minute. She was obviously flustered, and I couldn’t blame her. What she was feeling about the whole situation was exactly what I was feeling, multiplied by ten.
Zoey rolled her eyes, nudging her in the side with her elbow. “Calm down, Callie.”
I licked my lips and shrugged, not really wanting to get into things. “Don’t worry about it.” Both of their eyebrows shot up, but luckily, they didn’t question me. “Are you guys just drinking, or did you want something to eat, too?”
“Oh, I think we’re gonna need some drinks,” Callie responded quickly. “And we might as well order some food too, because we’re gonna be here for a while.” She narrowed her eyes in the direction where I knew Justin was sitting. “Whatever you do, Della, don’t turn around.”
Zoey snorted loudly when my head whipped around, my eyes locking with his. What could I say? It was like an instinct to turn around when someone told you not to. At least for me.
His lips curled into a smirk as he raised a shot glass in my direction, tipping his head back to down it quickly. His tongue darted out, licking his lips slowly, and of course, I couldn’t help but squeeze my legs together. Stupid body was betraying me like a bitch. How could one little action have me about ready to melt into a puddle right on the spot?
His eyes never left mine as he slammed the glass back down onto the counter, motioning to RJ with one finger for another, and I couldn’t seem to tear mine away from his. All while that stupid girl continued to sit on his lap, gazing adoringly at him while her hands slid underneath his shirt and he completely ignored her. She had no clue what she was getting into. He would forget her name by morning, if he even knew it now.