“Hey,” he said through the pass-through.
I placed two plates right in front of his face and dinged the bell for Tony to come get the food.
“Hi,” I said stiffly.
“Are you busy?”
I grabbed another ticket and reviewed it. “What does it look like?”
“Can we talk?”
“Not now, Parker.”
“How about when you get off work?”
“Are you going to sit here all day and wait for me, again?”
“No,” he said.
I almost felt bad for him, but I allowed those feelings to linger. “Okay.”
“Okay, we can talk?”
“Yes, Parker. We can talk when I’m done with work.”
“Okay,” he said and turned to leave. “See you later.”
I watched him walk out of my diner and into the lot before the door closed behind him.
I sighed and pressed my hands against the counter. I took several breaths before gathering myself.
Tony poked his head through the pass-through. “You okay, Sienna?”
I shook out my hands. “I’m fine. Just burned myself.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “That sucks. Put some water on it. I can come help, if you need it?”
“I’m good,” I said. I needed to dig my head in the sand and get on with my day. I had a feeling I knew what Parker wanted to talk about. He had to remember what he said to me, and now he wanted me to forget it. He’d probably chalk it up to being in a drunken stupor. He wasn’t the first person in history to say something he didn’t mean to a girl. But why had he said those things to me? His best friend. I wasn’t someone he was trying to have sex with. There was no need for him to say anything at all. If he’d just wanted to spoon, that would have been fine, but telling me that he wanted to pursue a relationship with me? That was unnecessary if it wasn’t true. Where did he get off playing with someone’s emotions like that? He probably learned it from Rachel.
I cringed when I thought of her. This was all her fault. If she slept with him like she promised, then he wouldn’t be overly horny and trying to get some whereever he could. Rachel would be gone for a few days longer; I wondered if Parker would beg me to help him with more of the wedding planning. I really hoped not.
What I needed was to detoxify my life of Parker. And wedding planning would not help that.
I shook my head hard enough that my hair loosened a little from the elastic. I grabbed the ingredients for Harriet and Kenneth’s meals and started working on that. I flipped on the radio above the grill, something I never did, and one of Tony’s metal stations was playing a god-awful song with intense drums and screaming vocals. As much as I hated it, it took my mind away from Parker and me while I prepared the meal.
I was in a little better mood when I came back out to the Lamontes.
I put the plates down in front of Harriet and Kenneth. “Can I get you anything else?”
Harriet touched my hand. “Is everything all right with you and Parker?”
I sighed. “Was it that obvious?”
“You seemed a little terse with him.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I knelt down next to her.
“It happens, dear. Love is a funny thing, but whatever it is, you will figure it out.” Then she smiled and winked at me.