Page 122 of Don't Say You're Sorry

“Happy birthday, sweetie.” Outside Lucky’s Diner, my mum wraps her arms around Easton, holding him extra tight for a few moments.

He’s still got that huge grin on his face as she pulls back. “Thank you.”

“I told you,” she mutters to me, hugging me next and kissing my cheek. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah.” I laugh. “Thank you for the gear.”

She pats the leather on my chest. “He’s been shitting himself for weeks over giving you this,” she says to Easton as she takes a look at his motorcycle.

“I have not.”

“Liar.”

I roll my eyes, and Easton chuckles as he wraps his arm around my shoulder. “That was fun,” he rasps.

“Did you get hard?” I ask quietly, ensuring only he hears me.

He gives me a sideways look. “I could feel your dick on my ass. What do you think?”

I laugh under my breath.

My mum peeks at us over her shoulder and smiles to herself when she thinks we’re not looking.

“Come on.” She tips her head toward the diner. “I’m starving.” She walks inside, and we follow.

We grab our favorite table at the back next to the jukebox. Easton and I sit on one side while my mum picks a song.

“Bet you it’s Jimmy Eat World,” Easton says to me, smiling when “Hear You Me” starts playing a few seconds later. It’s one of her favorite songs.

“Know it all.” I playfully bump his shoulder with mine. I pick up a menu and open it. “Guess what I’m getting.”

“Pancakes.”

“Nope.” I was totally thinking pancakes.

My mum sits opposite us, and the waitress comes over to ask us what we want to drink. We order a pot of tea, and she tells us she’ll be right back with it.

“What are you getting, Veronica?” Easton asks as he browses the menu. “Adam’s getting pancakes.”

I roll my eyes.

She lifts a brow at us as she picks up her own menu. She looks at it for a few minutes, but it doesn’t seem like she’s actually reading it.

She closes the menu. “I know it’s your birthday, but do you mind if I say something?”

“Sure,” Easton says.

She takes a breath, her voice soft as she looks at us both. “I’m sorry.”

We frown.

“For what?” he asks.

“I thought I was doing the right thing by not getting involved. I told myself that I would let you two work it out yourselves, and if it was meant to be, it would be. I never spoke about it to anyone. I never let on to either of you that I knew there was something going on.” The look in her eyes is filled with guilt as she looks at me. “I never told you that Easton tried to call you after you left, since I assumed you already knew. I didn’t think it was my place to ask why you never picked up. And I never told either of you that you were constantly asking about each other while Adam was away. I realize now that it was a mistake. Maybeif Ihadmeddled, things would have been different, and you wouldn’t have wasted all those years apart.”

Easton’s shaking his head before she even finishes. “You didn’t know. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not,” I agree. “I’m sorry for making you feel like it was. I was out of line.”