A sense of dread gripped me, my stomach stirring, when I saw the tall and handsome athlete stride in. I almost refused to believe it was him, but—
“That’sDakota Easton,” Sienna whispered. “He plays for the Sin.”
“O-oh, he does?” I stammered, feigning ignorance.
“He’s a player in both senses of the word, too,” she snickered.
I felt myself shrink.Great … good to know.
“But that’s one of the major perks of working here,” she added. “Sometimes, the players themselves come in.”
Funny, I thought, because I had the opposite opinion—that was one of the only downsides of working at BarDown. Since Brett and Dakota were friends, I feared it was only a matter of time until Dakota and I crossed paths again.
And now that we had?
I peeked up, running my eyes over him as he approached. Even though it’d only been two weeks, he looked different than the last time I saw him. His shoulders had broadened, and his arms had thickened, his muscles bulging in a tight-fitting tee. Even his face had hardened, somehow, like he’d aged, in a good way, over the past two weeks. I hate to say it, but he looked even hotter than the first time we’d met …
Dakota neared, standing on the other side of the host’s table. I kept my gaze trained on the floor because I couldn’t bear to look at him. My heart jumped into my throat, and a surge of conflicting emotions welled inside me. Istillliked him, I guess, but I knew what he thought of me—that I was a cheating, lying slut, probably.
But even if, against all odds, Dakota had a change of heart? It didn’t matter. I’d accepted how the rest of my life was going to play out … and Dakota was a threat to everything that had been planned for me.
“Hi, Dakota!” Sienna cheered.
“Hey there,” he said.
“Are you eating by your lonesome today?”
“I hope not,” he said.
He turned his eyes to me.
“Hi, Ottavia.”
“Hi,” I muttered.
Sienna’s eyes widened with surprise. “Oh! You two know each other?” She leaned in and whispered, “Damn, girl. Way to go!”
Yeah … not so sure about that …
Sienna grabbed a pair of menus. “A table for two, then?” she asked, glancing at me with a sparkle in her eye.
“No—” I began to grumble, but Dakota beat me to the punch.
“That’d be perfect,” he said. “Thank you.”
Sienna led me and Dakota to the upper level of the restaurant and seated us at a booth. We were the only table to be seated in our area—but that didn’t mean we were alone. I noticed the commotion happening in the background, as cooks, servers,busboys, and managers came out of every nook and cranny to get a glance at us, gossip already swirling—
Wait, isn’t that the new girl?
What’s she doing with Dakota Easton?!
“So glad to see you again,” Dakota said, smiling at me. “It’s crazy you work here. I hear you’re killing it?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I muttered.
“Brett was definitely singing your praises, and—”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Dakota, you shouldn’t have come here.”
