Page 132 of Masters of Pleasure
“I don’t know,” she finally admitted.“I panicked.I ran.Then I sat there, internally yelling at myself for running instead of doing anything, thinking about everything I should have done instead.”
“Ugh, don’t you hate that?”Domi groaned, leaning her head back.“I always come up with the best comebacks like three hours too late.”Avery gave her a watery smile, feeling a little better.Domi was so sassy and snappy, it had never occurred to Avery that Domi also felt as if she didn’t get to say what she wanted.“We’ll use tonight to come up with the perfect thing to say when you see Chad again.”
“If you see him again.”Rae scowled.“Personally, I think his ass should be fired, and I will judge Nick if he doesn’t do it.”
“I should be fired, too.”Avery rubbed her forehead, guilt welling up again.She’d left them short-staffed tonight.On a Saturday.And now sitting with her friends instead of doing the responsible thing—go back, face the music, and finish out her shift.
“Hey, you were verbally attacked, and this is self-care.You can’t go back until you know how you’re going to face that shitgibbon.”Nodding firmly, Domi got up from her seat.“I’m going to check on the soup, then we’ll figure out how to handle Chad.”
“I still say we should key his car or something,” Iris muttered under her breath.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Nick
The last ticketwas being served up, and still nothing from Avery.He didn’t take his phone out of his pocket again to look and make sure.Doing so to see an empty screen again would hurt.
Why wasn’t she reaching out to him?
Even if she wasn’t ready to as his employee, he was her boyfriend.He wanted to be there for her, and she wasn’t letting him.She’d run away, which didn’t say much about them as a couple.
Or maybe he was wrong.Maybe it said everything.Maybe this was another situation where he wasn’t enough.Not around enough, not attentive enough, not dominant enough—he didn’t know what box he’d checked off, but it seemed to be the story of his life with relationships.He was more than enough in the kitchen.He knew what he was supposed to do and what was supposed to happen.That was how he’d worked his way up to the position of executive chef.
When his phone finally rang, he pulled it out of his pocket, and when he saw Avery’s name, he almost shoved it back in.Let her wait and see how it felt.
Only that he truly hated hypocrisy kept him from doing so.He would show her what she should have done all the times he’d called her earlier this evening—he picked up the phone.
“Hello.”His voice came out as a short, sharp bark, and George glanced up at him, hazel eyes full of concern.One thing that had happened throughout the night was George had slowly gotten out of his funk as he’d watched Nick’s mood deteriorate.
“Um, hi.”Avery’s voice was soft, hesitant.Which, oddly, made it harder to hold on to his temper.Now he felt bad for how he’d answered the phone.He was still mad and thought he deserved to be mad, but hearing her hesitation made him feel like he’d kicked a puppy.
Argh.
Not trusting what might come out of his mouth, he pressed his lips shut, waiting for her to say something.
“So, um, I’m sure you’re wondering what happened…” Her voice trailed off, a bit of pleading imbued in her tone.
“The others told me what happened.I came in right after you left.Chad has been fired, by the way.”
There was a moment of silence, then she sighed, and the sound grated on his nerves.
“That’s… I mean… thank you.I hate you had to do that.”
“That was the consequence of his actions.”His voice was harsh.He turned away from George’s worried expression to see Darnell and Alice were watching him.Great.Nick was tempted to abandon his post and head to the office where he could talk privately, but that would be extremely unprofessional, and on a night like tonight, he needed to be a good role model.Though talking on his phone with his girlfriend didn’t really go along with that, but since she was also his sous chef, he could pretend that was the main reason.“I wish you had stayed around, so you could have been there for it.”
“I…”
Another long pause and he got the impression she was searching for the words to explain herself.Determined not to speak first, he clenched his jaw so tightly, it ached.
“I’m sorry.I don’t know why I ran.I really don’t.Then once I did, it was so hard to come back… and every minute I stayed away made it harder.”
“So, staying away completely and not coming into work at was the solution?”He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.Dammit.“It’s Saturday night, Avery.We needed you.”
“I couldn’t face everyone… not after they knew.”
Fuck.This again.Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and walked toward the hallway, so everyone wouldn’t hear their conversation.They had cleanup covered, so they didn’t need him.
“They don’t care, Avery.You know how I know that?They told me.Gareth and Miles have known for weeks, and they didn’t care.”
