Page 49 of Yesterday I Cared
Dear god, how many times am I going to have to tell this woman I'm not sleeping with her?
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mia starting to look around for something or someone. I manage to ignore Jasmine long enough for my gaze to lock with the person I'd rather be with.
Surprise flashes across Mia's features before it settles into something calmer. Her attention turns back to her date when they start speaking again. When our eyes meet again, she gives me a look of pure panic.
The look in her eyes screaming one thing.Help me.
I don't know what's going on, but my instincts are kicked into overdrive. I fish my wallet out of my pocket, pulling out all the cash I have in there. It's more than enough to cover dinner for both of us, but I feel bad for what I'm about to do.
"I'm sorry," I tell Jasmine. "I swear I never bail on dates, but I need to go."
"What?" She gasps, face turning red. "What do you mean, you're leaving?"
"This was never going to work, Jasmine." I set the money on the table. "This will cover both meals—feel free to get some dessert or something."
"Are you telling me to keep the change? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry," I say once more before I'm up.
I have no plan, no strategy for what to do or say. I don’t even know what's going on. I feel the need to get Mia out of here. As I make my way across the patio, I can still feel Jasmine's gaze on me. I silentlysend up a prayer to anything that's listening that she won't make a scene.
But she'd be totally in the right to do so if she wanted.
When Mia realizes I'm coming to her aid, a smile tugs across her lips, and she feigns surprise. "Oh, hi Ronan!"
"Hey, Mia," I greet, coming to a stop at her table. She stands to briefly hug me, and it takes everything in me to not pull her closer.
"Ronan, this is my date, Georgie." I smile at them, bidding them a small hello. "Ronan and I work together at the swim club I was telling you about. He's one of the coaches."
"Oh, right," Georgie replies, focusing on me. "She tells me you have an outdoor pool. You must struggle with keeping backswimmers and other insects out of the water. You wouldn’t want the kids getting bit."
Huh, that's an interesting way to greet someone.
"We do a lot of maintenance to keep any bugs to a minimum," I quickly say, praying no one can overhear this. Bryce will kill me if I somehow make people think we have a bug infestation. "I guess I never knew what those were called."
Lies. If you ever spent any time around water, especially lakes and streams, you've dealt with those assholes.
Georgie shrugs. "Well, I'm an entomologist; it's kind of my job to know about bugs."
The quiet groan Mia makes before downing the rest of her wine tells me everything I need to know.
"That's cool." I turn to her. "Mia, I hate to bug you, but we have an emergency at work and are needed back at the club."
"We are?" she asks, eyebrows furrowed. I silently plead for her to go with it.
"Yes," I stress. "Bryce has been texting us, but you must have your phone on silent. I saw you sitting here and decided to come grab you."
"What kind of emergency can you have at a closed swimming pool at eight o'clock at night?"
Well, gee, Georgie, I think,give me a second to come up with one.
"It's the lane lines." The words come stumbling out, so I guess that's what I'm going with. "Carter was bringing them in and got tangled in them again. Apparently, it's pretty bad this time."
"Oh." Her eyes go comically wide. "Not again."
She immediately starts gathering her things to stand. "Carter is a disaster. I don't know why Bryce keeps letting him do this. I'm so sorry, Georgie, but I should go."
"It's fine," they reply, standing to bid Mia goodbye. "Emergencies happen."
