let the next guy know.
“Carmen,” I paused. Clear, concise language. No room for misinterpretation. “I want to break up.”
There. She couldn’t twist that.
Her brows bunched together. “What?”
“I don’t think we’re right for each other.”
“But––”
“You’re very nice.” I slowly picked each word. “And beautiful. And you’ll make a man very happy someday. I’m just not that man.”
Her mouth gaped open. “But we’re perfect together.”
Not true. “I’m not in a place to be in a relationship. I’m sorry.”
“I’ve given you everything, Jason. For the past two months!”
So, she was aware we’d only been together for seven or eight weeks? Huh. She always talked like we’d been together for years.
“I wish you all the best.” I quickly stood and walked to the door before she could say anything else.
The knot in my stomach released as soon as I hit the sidewalk. I pulled out my phone and blocked her number so any attempts she made to contact me wouldn’t even enter my mind. I was free.
I should have done it sooner, but I really didn’t think about her that often. It wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that she turned things up to the crazy level. She went from someone I enjoyed hanging out with to someone who’d break into my apartment. I warned Frank to not even let her in the building from now on.
When I arrived at the restaurant for lunch, my family was already seated and waiting for me. I checked my watch, but I was thirty minutes early.
“Hey, I thought we said noon?” I sat next to Joey and took a sip of the water in front of me.
“We finished early and thought we’d come save a table. Your mom thought there would be a longer wait,” Dad answered.
I glanced around the fairly busy dining room. “Good idea.”
“Did you take care of that errand?” Mom asked.
I rubbed my palms on my shorts. “Yeah, I met up with Carmen and told her it was over.”
Dad’s brows rose, and Mom pulled her head back.
“What do you mean?” She sounded as if I’d broken up with her.
“I already told you. She and I were in different places. She thought we were more serious than I did. It just wasn’t working out.”
Joey snorted. “You mean she thought you were in a relationship and you didn’t.”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“Oh, but she was so sweet.” Mom’s shoulders dropped.
“You did the right thing. If your heart wasn’t in it then it’s better to end it now than lead her on.” I smiled at my Dad. At least I had one parent on my side.
“This has to do with Taylor, doesn’t it?” Joey asked, making Mom perk up.
“Oh really, honey? Do you still have feelings for her?”
I shot a glare at my brother, fighting the instinct to sucker punch him like I had growing up. “It had nothing to do with Taylor.”
Well, not entirely.
Mom pursed her lips. “You just happened to break up with your girlfriend right after running into her?”
It was time to tell them the whole truth. “That wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Taylor.”
They stared at me, their sudden silence drawing more attention to our table than if we were screaming.
“I ran into her the night before the first game in Raleigh.” I left out the part about the drink in my face for both our sakes.
“And you didn’t tell us?” Mom’s voice was too quiet, wounded.
“The past two weeks have been an absolute blur. Things have been happening so fast, and honestly, I didn’t think much about it.” Total lie. “She was staying at the same hotel as us and became friends with some of the women that traveled with us. I guess she was having a really hard time finding a job out there, so they offered to help her find something out here. I didn’t know about that until I saw her in the parking garage. I was as surprised as you guys.” There, that was true.
“What are the odds?” Dad shook his head.
“It’s fate,” Joey said and waggled his brows.
Unfortunately, that set Mom off. “You’re right! She’s here and now you have the chance to catch up and see if that spark is still there.”
“I’m not sure she’s interested in me like that anymore.” Where was the waiter? I could use an interruption right about now.
“You two were each other’s first loves. You don’t ever forget that. I bet if you two gave it a shot, things would fall right back into place.” Mom’s pleading eyes nearly broke me. Until