Jonah winced only a little before he caught himself. "See," he sighed, looking at his menu and avoiding my eyes. "I don't really get why he thinks that."
I looked at him. The urge to kiss him was draining away like water from a bath. I rolled my eyes. Maybe there weren't any layers here at all. Maybe he was just clueless. "Because," I stated flatly. "You stayed with your manager even after everything that happened."
His menu fell from his open hand with a smack loud enough to make me jump. I stared at him, startled as he pressed his palms flat on the table. His entire face was beet red now, and the rage I saw there had me reaching for my purse, ready to run out of here if he suddenly blew his top.
But he took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Really," he said, sounding out of breath. "That's why? That's what he thinks I did?"
I suddenly regretted ever telling him. This was family drama that had nothing to do with me. "Where the hell is the waitress?" I breathed, holding my menu up to block out the sight of him.
He reached over and yanked the menu back down again. "Hey!" I protested.
"Tell me Ruby," he demanded. "That's what Gabe thinks happened?"
"I don't know," I said through clenched teeth. "That's what I've heard him say. That's what Claire said he was pissed about when she told me you guys had stopped talking."
"I didn't though," Jonah protested, a little too loudly. He looked around and quieted himself. "I fired Bennett that moment. That fucking second. You think I'd do my brother wrong like that?"
A flicker of doubt ignited in my brain. He looked so wounded right now. I had to struggle not to slip into teacher mode, not to give him a hug and offer a Band-aid and a lollipop. And another kiss. "He seems to think so," I said, as neutrally as I could.
"Well he's wrong," Jonah asserted. "I think I know what happened but he's wrong. He's believing Bennett's word over mine." He narrowed his eyes angrily. "And that's sort of bullshit if you ask me."
I leaned back and eyed the circling waitresses. Tension clouded our table, so thick you could cut it with a knife. "I need to go to the restroom," I said quickly.
He didn't look at me as I hurriedly grabbed my things and rushed away from our table. It was several degrees cooler in the ladies room than out in the overheated cafe. I touched my cheeks, feeling the heat rising off my skin and leaned over the sink to splash water on my face.
Ten minutes ago I had been ready to wrap myself around him. Now I wanted to wrap my hands around his throat. Never had I met someone who could get me so worked up like this. I wanted to shake him, the embrace him. I wanted to defend him from the wrong Gabe had done him, then I wanted to slap him across the face for letting all these years go by without righting it. I felt like screaming.
Why did Gabe believe that Jonah had kept that manager on? And more than that, why had I, why had his whole family so readily believed it as well? And even more than that, why hadn't Jonah done anything to fix their wrong opinion of him?
I could feel it. The need to intervene. Willa called it my "adoption instinct," the need to take other people under my wing and fix their problems. My therapist said it was a remnant of losing my dad so young, of trying to play partner to my single mother instead of letting myself just be the daughter. It was something I struggled with and I had to fight tooth and nail not to give in to it right now.
I could fix the King Brother feud today. I could get Jonah and Gabe talking and they could hash everything out. Then we could all listen to Gid's music together as the camera panned away and the music played over the credits.
I shook my head. Life didn't work that way. I needed to keep my nose out of this. I needed to ignore how nice that kiss was and go back to being a disinterested third party. I was too involved already.
It was unbelievably cheesy to nod at myself in the mirror after making a big decision, but that's what I did before heading back out to the table with a smile on my face. "Hey," I said, sliding back into the booth.
Something seemed different. He was propping his head up with one hand while he tapped restlessly on the table with the other. I looked at the table and realized what was missing. "Where are our menus?"
"Hmm? Oh, I ordered."
"Um, you did?" I squeaked. "For both of us?"
He smiled like I was a particularly slow, but still slightly charming child. "Yeah. The waitress came while you were in the bathroom and you seemed like you were hungry, so I didn't want her to go away again."
I stared at him, not comprehending. "You... Ordered for me."
"Yeah she said it'd be out soon." He tapped his fingers on the table some more. "Let me ask you something, when Claire told you I fucked Gabe over like that, even though I didn't, did you believe her?"
I shook my head, mentally digging in my heels and refusing to get pulled into this. "Don't change the subject here, Jonah."
"From what?"
"You ordering for me!" I whisper-shouted. Anger was heating my neck again. I couldn't believe that I'd almost fallen for it. That dimple and those hurt hazel eyes. That stellar kiss. He'd been wounded and vulnerable and because of that I'd almost believed he was different from what I'd always known him to be.
An arrogant, attention-hungry asshole.
"You had no idea what I wanted to order, I never told you."
He leaned forward. "I took a guess," he said. "Like I said, she came when you were in the bathroom - "
"So send her away!" I interrupted, throwing up my hands. A few heads were turning in our direction and I definitely recognized a parent from my classroom, but I didn't care. "This isn't the nineteen fucking fifties!"
The corner of his mouth twitched. "Sure Ruby," he scoffed. "You'll make the guy pay for your lunch on a date, but this isn't the nineteen fifties."
My mouth fell open. "Wait, you think this is a date?"
"You think it's not?"
I stared at him in disbelief, unable to form words for a second. "Well, if this is your idea of a date, Jonah King," I seethed. "Then I feel really bad for your ex-girlfriends. So far we've talked about nothing but your problems and then you went ahead and ordered for me without even asking if it was okay."
Jonah smirked. "Jesus, Ruby. What are you so mad about?"
I threw down my napkin. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" I stabbed my finger into the table. "This right here is why Gabe is so pissed at you," I seethed. I was angry at him and angry at myself for thinking I could fix this. This went way deeper than just a disagreement over management. "This is why Beau and Finn sided with him against you and why Claire rolls her eyes every time someone brings you up." His face stiffened, but I couldn't stop myself. "Because you make these decisions that affect other people that aren't yours to make!"
His jaw clenched and relaxed. Clenched and relaxed. I waited for him to tell me to butt out, that it was none of my damn business. Then I would tell him. I'd let him know that his uncle had given me his legacy to care for because he knew I would keep his wishes in mind. That it really was my business, after all. I would throw it in his face that Gid had chosen me over him and make him realize what an asshole he was being.