Page 32 of Falling Too Soon (Seasons of Love #1)

DAPHNE

M y head was pounding. I really needed to lay off the booze.

After I hung up the phone with Marcus, I was on a mission to forget.

To forget about Marcus, to forget about Nathan, and to forget about all the things that were looming over me at the moment.

Like, where was I going to live? How would I tell my parents what happened?

Could I avoid Marcus completely at work?

Ugh. I rolled over on Lexi’s couch and peeled my eyes open.

The blaring sunlight shot directly into my eyes through the open living room curtains.

Yeah, this was not going to work long-term, but it was still nice to be under the same roof as my bestie.

I craved her support now more than ever, although I definitely couldn’t continue to drink like that every day.

After I extricated myself from the couch, I made my way into Lexi’s room and collapsed on the bed next to her. She grunted. Her displeasure at being disturbed was clear. “Why, bitch, why? It’s too fucking early,” she whined.

“Yeah, well next time, don’t leave me on the couch with the shades open. I think I’m blind,” I joked, nudging her in the ribs. “Anyway, we’re up now. Let’s go get some breaky.”

“Ugh, why do you hate me?” She rolled over and buried her head under her pillow. “Fiiiine, but you’re buying.” She eventually relented and dragged her ass to the bathroom to start the process of getting ready.

While she was busy, I started some coffee, which I immediately regretted since it made me think of the last few mornings with Nathan.

Great, now freaking coffee was ruined for me.

What’s next? The things he did to my body and the way he made me feel, I’d never felt like that with anyone else. Did he ruin sex for me, too? Perfect .

I was standing in front of the coffeemaker, lost in thought, when Lexi came up behind me. “You okay?” she asked as she put a hand on my arm, startling me.

“Fuck Lexi, don’t do that,” I gasped. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.” I poured us each a coffee. “I’ll go get ready, and then we can get out of here. I’m starving.” My stomach growled as if on cue.

The twenty-four-hour diner down the street from Lexi’s was our favorite place in the city.

We’d go there at all hours, before work, after work, after the bars, and in the mornings for breakfast on a day off.

Max’s Diner was not only a favorite of ours, but at any given time, you could find one or more of our coworkers popping in to grab a coffee or a meal since it was also close to the hospital.

Thankfully, the one person who I could almost guarantee I wouldn’t see was Marcus.

Max’s was beneath him, I guessed, but that was perfectly okay with me.

He’s the last person I wanted to deal with.

Max greeted us as we walked in, as usual.

I often wondered if this woman ever slept or if she even had a home away from the diner.

She seemed to always be there, but she never seemed annoyed by that fact.

She was always pleasant and welcoming, although I’d seen her hold her own when the late-night crowd would get rowdy and she had to intervene.

“Hey, girls. Just the two of you today?” she asked, waving two menus in our direction.

“Yeah, Max, thanks.” I nodded and followed her to a booth by the windows.

“Coffees?” Were we that predictable?

“You know it,” Lexi chimed in as I examined the menu, as if I’d order anything but my usual. Max’s had the best shit on a shingle in the city, and there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d order anything else. Max returned with our drinks, took our orders, and then retreated to the kitchen.

“Okay, first things first.” I cleared my throat. “I need to find a place to live. As much as I appreciate staying with you, I can’t sleep on your couch forever. I want something close, though. If I could walk to work and to your place, that would be ideal.”

“Yeah, I need you to stay close. I didn’t like Marcus’s place. It was too far.” Lexi pouted .

“Too far? It was like a ten-minute drive.”

Lexi laughed, “Yeah, I hate driving. That’s why I live close to work, duh.”

“I definitely want to stay close, but I may have to be open to…” My eyes bulged and my words caught in my throat. Lexi immediately caught on and whipped her head around to see what I was looking at.

“Oh hell no,” she shot, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Dr. Marcus Fuckface Williams standing by the host stand.

He lifted his eyes, looked right at me, and then started heading our way.

What in the actual fuck? I couldn’t remember a single time in our entire relationship that I had seen him here. I guess that was just my fucking luck.

He approached with a wide grin, “Hey babe, I’ve missed you.” He leaned in and tried to kiss my cheek, which I dodged. This guy was either totally delulu or thought I’d go along with his charade so as not to cause a scene in public. He was dead ass wrong.

I pushed him gently out of my personal space as I caught sight of Lexi’s gaping mouth and eye twitching. She was about to lose her shit. “Marcus, what are you doing here?” I asked calmly.

“I was heading to get lunch down the street and saw you guys walk in here. I haven’t seen you, so I thought I’d pop in to say hi,” he said casually as if he didn’t know we had broken up.

I reached out and grabbed Marcus’s arm to make sure I had his attention, as I said, “Listen, Marcus, we broke up. Please, leave me alone. ”

He leaned in. “No, you listen, we are not done. You’re clearly going through something here and I’ve been trying to be supportive,” he said through gritted teeth while I swear I saw Lexi’s left pupil blow.

Lexi’s restraint had evaporated and as she was pushing up to stand, Max arrived at the table with our food. “Everything okay here, girls?” she asked, looking warily between Marcus and us.

“Yeah, thanks, Max. Marcus was just leaving. Right, Marcus?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

Max, Lexi, and I all stared blankly at Marcus for a moment while he regained his composure and straightened.

“Of course. I’ll let you get back to your girl time.

I’ll see you later, babe.” He smiled brightly as if we weren’t just in an awkward standoff and then turned on his heel to walk out of the diner.

“You girls need anything else?” Max asked as she placed our food in front of us. I’m sure she was more concerned about our safety than if we needed ketchup. By the way, who uses ketchup at breakfast? Sociopaths like Marcus, that’s who.

“We’re good, Max, thanks.” I smiled up at her, and she trotted off to help another table.

“The fucking balls on that guy. Seriously, like, is he okay?” Lexi shook her head and dug into her stuffed French toast.

“Yeah, that was so weird. Do you think he followed us? Or are you buying that story about being in the neighborhood for lunch? ”

“There’s not a chance this was a coincidence. He’s out of his mind if he thinks playing dumb and pretending you’re still a couple is going to get you back. Right?” She winced at the last part as if she didn’t mean to let the question slip.

“Really, Lexi? Am I so pathetic that you think I’d go back to him?” I could feel myself getting upset. I knew I was a mess, but the fact that she had to check if I was considering going back to him had me questioning myself.

“No, babe, but he manipulated you for years, and I’m just checking to see where your head’s at. You’re not pathetic, and it wasn’t your fault that you fell for his shit before. He’s good at what he does.” Lexi eyed me sympathetically.

“Ugh, I hate this.” I pushed my beloved plate of SOS away and put my head down on the table. “Why can’t he just leave me alone? Every text and voicemail sets me off, and now he’s showing up randomly,” I muttered with my face still on the table.

“First off,” Lexi pushed my face up off the table, “please, for the love of my French toast, get your head off the table. I’m still eating here. And second, forget about that dickhead. I’m more interested in the new guy.” She winked at me. The bitch actually winked at me.

I sat back in the booth, slouched down, and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Nathan doesn’t need my drama. He’s a nice guy, and we had a great time, but emotionally I’m a total mess, and I need to sort out my own shit before I think about dragging someone else into my life.

” But boy, did I miss him. Who would’ve thought that after spending just five days with someone, I’d feel such a strong connection?

But then again, that was so me, wasn’t it?

Bebopping from relationship to relationship and always picking the wrong guy.

Whether Nathan was a great guy or yet another in a long line of mistakes, it didn’t matter.

I was clearly not capable of making good decisions, and I wasn’t about to drag anyone else down with me.