Chapter Twenty-Eight
Leo
I’m sitting in the car outside Dylan’s place when he finally answers the phone.I half expected him not to pick up, siding with his sister, who I’m pretty sure is at his place right now, over me.God knows what she’s told him, and honestly, I don’t give a fuck.I just need him to put her on the phone for me, convince her to talk to me so I can start fixing this.
“Hey, Leo,” he says, exhaling.
“Is she there?”I ask, not bothering with a hello.“She’s not answering her phone and she’s not at her place, so—”
“Yeah, she’s here,” he replies, before he mumbles something I don’t catch.
“Is that her you’re talking to?”I snap.“Can you put her on?She’s not answering her phone.”
“I’m talking to Tessa, dude,” he says with a sigh.“Look, Han is here, but she’s kind of a mess.I think today really threw her and—”
“Threw her?”I shout.“Fuck, Dylan, her leaving has fucking thrown me.Please can you put her on?If you don’t, I’m coming up and you better fucking let me in.”
“Leo,” he says, his voice weirdly calm and making him sound much older than his twenty-four years.“Look, I get this is a bit of a clusterfuck, but she doesn’t want to deal with it right now.Shecan’tdeal with it right now.I think it’s really messed with her, and I know you want to see her, and I’ve told her that she needs to talk to you, but I don’t think it’s happening tonight, okay?”
My head falls back against the seat as I glance up at the windows of his apartment, hoping to see Hannah, but knowing there’s probably not a chance in hell she’s going to be there watching me.She clearly doesn’t want to see or speak to me and as much as it pisses me off, deep down, I know I have to respect her wishes.
“Leo?”Dylan prompts when I don’t respond.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I say, scrubbing a hand down my face.
“You okay?”he now asks, genuine concern in his voice.
“No, Dylan, I’m not okay.Today was a total shit fight and the woman I love is now not speaking to me.So yeah, I’m pretty fucking far from okay right now.”
Dylan chuckles a little.“You really love her, huh?”
My eyes close as my mind drifts back to earlier, to the look on Hannah’s face when she walked in and saw my dad.The look on his face when he realized exactly who my girlfriend was.I’d heard the stories about his sous chef that quit, and the way it happened, just like I’d heard Hannah’s stories about the asshole boss she’d had.I’d just never in my wildest dreams expected it to all turn out like this.
But even though it had, it doesn’t lessen how I feel about her.Nothing is ever going to change that and while I know it’s going to be weird moving forward, letting Hannah go because of this isn’t an option for me.
Not now, not ever.
“Yeah, I really do.And I want to fix this, badly.”
Dylan exhales in a way that tells me he gets it, which given the shit he went through with Tessa, I don’t doubt he does.“I know, dude.Look, why don’t you go home and try and get some rest?Tomorrow is a new day and I promise I’ll make Hannah talk to you.”
It’s not what I want to hear or how I want this day to end, but I also know I have no choice.I know today wasn’t easy on Hannah and I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s thinking right now.God knows I never told her who my dad was.I mean fuck, we don’t even share the same last name.
I use my middle name because when I was first starting out, I deliberately wanted to distance myself from him.I always wanted to make a name for myself based off my own cooking skills.
Not because I was the son of Roy Langston.
Although apparently being that can come back to bite me in the ass in other ways.
“Leo?”Dylan prompts, in a way that suggests it’s not the first time he’s said my name,
Exhaling, I glance up at his place one last time.“Yeah, I hear what you’re saying.Please just make sure she’s okay.For me.”
“I will, dude, I promise.She’s here and she’s safe,” he says and while I know his words are meant to be comforting, they’re not.
We say our goodbyes and even though I should leave, because sitting outside like a fucking stalker is not going to get me anywhere at this point, I don’t just yet.Instead, I type out one last text to Hannah, knowing she’s not going to answer if I try calling her, the dozen or so unanswered calls I’ve already made are proof of that.
Me: I know you’re freaking out in there, babe, but please talk to me.Please.This isn’t a deal breaker ok.I love you and I’m not letting what happened before ruin what we have now.Please Han, I really need to talk to you.
