Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍏 Twenty Six

This time, the disbelieving laughter came from both of her parents. It was her father who spoke up again. "Don't be ridiculous. You're just angry with him for breaking the news about the boot camp to you. And he's crazy about you, you know that."

She didn't want to have to do it, but then, there was a part of her that relished in finally saying her next words. "Ask him about Theresa."

"Theresa?" Finally, there was a trace of worry in her mother's voice.

"Yes, Theresa. The girl who works the juice bar at our gym, Theresa. The woman he's been sleeping with for the past three months, Theresa."

She could practically hear her father leap forward in his chair. "Layla!"

"I'm only telling the truth, Dad. For a long time I thought it was none of your business, but maybe it is."

"Layla, sweetie, are you sure?" her mother cooed. "Can't you try to talk it through with him? See if you're jumping to conclusions? Think of the merger."

"Believe me, I have. But for once I want to think about myself. Maybe you won't believe me, but this isn't about Colin, it's got nothing to do with Colin. I'm not happy in New York. I'm lonely, and I'm bored, and I feel like I don't get to decide anything for myself. I don't like the customers we get. I don't like that all my ideas get snubbed out before they even get a chance to burn. If I'm going to fail, I want to fail. Does that make any sense to you, at all? I'm tired of not even having the chance to make a mistake."

She was rambling, she knew, and forced herself to stop. "Look. To put it as clearly as I can, this trip made me realize that I'm not getting what I want out of Foster Fitness anymore. I don't know if I want to go back to my old life. I'll be in touch when I've made up my mind, okay? I love you."

Before they could convince her not to, she hung up. If she didn't, her dying battery would do it soon enough anyway.

Guilt and freedom swarmed inside her, equal halves of a whole. With a deep inhale, she powered off her phone. She wouldn't let anything distract her from the decisions she needed to make. Not her parents, Colin, or even a random work email. For once, she had to discover what life was like without Foster Fitness.

There was a knock on her door just as she finished tucking her phone into her suitcase. Out of sight, out of mind. The less she was tempted to call them back to reconcile, the better. She couldn't let them convince her to go back on her word, and even though this felt like the right thing to do, she knew she had a bad habit of being convinced to do things that felt the opposite, instead.

When she opened the door, she came face to face with the one person who seemed dead set on making sure she didn't fall victim to that habit. A slow smile crawled across Dawson's face, eyes trained on hers.

"Hi," she greeted, surprised by the breathlessness of her own voice.

"Hi. You have plans tonight?" His voice was low and hushed, a sound that sent shivers up her spine.

"Plans?" Her heart leaped inside of her. Was he asking what it sounded like he was asking? "No. I don't think so. Why?"

"Because Jack's going out to dinner to schmooze with some new grocery store manager from the next town over, and Marshall's taking Kenzie to dinner in town. Which means it's just the two of us, tonight, and I was hoping you'd let me call it a date."

"I... okay," she was too caught off guard to disagree. A date. A date with Dawson. How could life change so much in just twenty-four hours?

He spared a quick glance down the hall, then leaned in to place a warm kiss against her cheek. "Meet me in the dining room at dinner time," he murmured, still close. "Don't worry about dressing up. Just wear something comfortable."