Cole

 

I swear we’ve been in the truck for hours now. I keep glancing over at J. She’s looking out the window, refusing to look at me.

 

“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, J. I was just kidding around.”

 

“I’m not uncomfortable. It’s fine.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

I have no idea why Darren asked me to take this trip with J. I mean, I get why he asked me, I am low man on the totem pole, but why the hell would he send her with me? She doesn’t seem really happy to be here, especially with me.

 

When I see a sign for food and lodging at the next exit, I pull off. I’m exhausted. After hitting the gym and working all day, I was in no way prepared to drive as far as I needed to. She doesn’t question my decision like I thought she would.

 

“I’m starving and exhausted. We can get some food and a good night’s sleep, then start again in the morning.”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

“How about that place?” I ask, pointing to a diner up the street.

 

“That’s fine. I’m starving.” She rearranges herself in the front seat in order to put her boots back on.

 

Pulling into the lot of the diner, I take my time finding a spot on the end to fit the large size of the truck, giving her extra time to get herself back together. When I finally get the truck into a spot, she’s ready. I open the door and slowly slide out of the seat, stretching my arms above my head. Good Lord. Only four hours into this and I already feel like I’ve been cramped in there for days.

 

When we walk in and sit, the waitress takes our drink order, then walks away. I look over at J studying the menu. She must feel my eyes are her because she looks up. I don’t look away. I can’t.

 

“What?” she asks defensively.

 

I hate that she is always on the defensive, always thinking someone is out to get her. I wonder why? From what I overheard at that first dinner, I know her ex is an ass, but did he hurt her that badly? At first, I thought she was just that way with me, but after watching her around the shop, I see she’s like that all the time. The only time I have seen her completely relaxed is with Jules or Nan.

 

I am still thinking when she smacks her menu on top of mine. “What the fuck are you staring at?”

 

“What? Nothing. I’m just trying to figure you out.”

 

“Figure me out? There is nothing to figure out. I am an open book. You want to know something, just ask.”

 

“I’ll take that into consideration,” I say, winking at her, then look back at my menu. “The burgers look good. What are you going to have?”

 

“That was what you were trying to figure out? What I’m going to eat?”

 

“No, smartass, that’s not what I was thinking about.”

 

The waitress makes her way back over with our drinks. She takes our orders, then leaves us in awkward silence. I look around the small diner, taking in the fifties-themed décor. At one time, I bet this was the place to be on a Friday night. Out of the corner of my eye, I see J playing with her straw wrapper, tying it in knots over and over. When I turn my head toward her, she takes a deep breath and looks at me.

 

“I am probably going to regret this, but you have five questions. Ask me anything you want, but then I get five, too.”

 

I like this idea. I can ask J anything I want…but she can ask me, too. That can be dangerous. Just as I am about to decline the offer, a question that I really want the answer to pops into my head. I nod. “Okay, I go first. Why Justin?” I see a little look of surprise on her face before she hides it.

 

“Why Justin what?”

 

“From what I have heard, he was a total douche. No one liked him, including your father and Jules. Knowing what I do about you, it doesn’t seem like he would be the type of guy you’d be interested in. He cheated on his wife with you, then cheated on you with another woman.”

 

Her mouth drops open. “Wait. How the hell do you know all that?”

 

“I’ve heard some things.” Not that I’ve been asking, but I pay attention.

 

“What things have you heard about me?”

 

“Are you sure you want to ask that? That would be using one of your questions.”

 

“What? That’s not fair. That is not a question I want to ask.” I see her getting frustrated. If looks could kill, I would definitely be in the morgue right now.

 

“Answer me, J. Why Justin?”

 

I watch her take a few deep breaths. “I hate talking about him, about that time in my life. I watched Pop give up everything to raise me after my mom died. Don’t get me wrong. He was a devoted father, but he was lonely. The older I got, the more I saw it. I think he still is. His world revolved around me and the shop. Still does. That’s all he has. When I met Justin, I was just out of high school. He was older, hot, and paid a lot of attention to me, which was something I wasn’t used to. I fell hard. With me out of the house, I realized Pop could live his life. He deserved to be happy again, and I thought with me out, he could be. Boy, was I wrong. I see that now, hindsight and all that.” She waves off the last couple words as she grabs her drink.

 

I stare at her as she drinks from her straw. Under all that steel she’s hiding behind, this girl has a heart of gold.

 

She puts down her glass. “Okay, my turn. What’s your story? Why the gap in your work history?”

 

“My work history? You are jumping right in, huh?”

 

“Yeah. What’s your story, Cole?”

 

“I spent some time in prison. When I was seventeen, I ran into some trouble and had to pay for my crime.” I stop talking when the waitress drops off our food. I look over at J to see her big blue eyes staring at me. Great. She doesn’t trust me already, but I just added fuel to that fire.

 

She looks at her dinner. “What did you do?”

 

“That is for another time. Eat.” Who thought this little game would backfire in my face? Fucking fantastic.

 

The rest of dinner is spent in awkward silence. There’s so much tension at the table, I swear people three tables over can feel it.

 

She refuses to make eye contact with me the whole drive to the hotel. The longer this goes on, the more pissed I become. Who the fuck is she to judge me? Yes, I was in prison, but am I a bad person? No. I paid my dues. Would I do it again? Fuck yes, I would. In order to save my sisters, absolutely.

 

As soon as I throw the truck into park, I grab my bag and head toward the lobby. I hear her truck door close as I pull open the door to the hotel. At least I know she’s coming in. At this point, though, I don’t know that I care.

 

After I tell the girl behind the counter I need two rooms and give her all our information, I wait in silence. When she finally hands me two key cards, I leave one on the counter for J and head to my room. I am too old to deal with this shit. This is why I don’t do relationships. I can’t talk about that time in my life because I’m always judged.