Love, Utley (Love Letters #1)

Another few minutes pass, and what started as guilt morphs into worry.

She’s been gone too long.

I shift my legs, preparing to push my chair back, when Hannah appears in my line of sight.

She’s so fucking pretty.

Her hair is up in a ponytail that sits high on the back of her head, and it allows me to see all of her beautiful face as she gets closer.

Hannah smiles at one of the servers she passes, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

But fake or not, she keeps the smile in place as she approaches.

Her cheeks are free of tears, and her makeup doesn’t look smudged.

I glance at her purse as she hooks it to the back of her chair.

Did she fix her makeup?

Lowering herself into her chair, she flicks her eyes to me, and I see it.

Her mascara is perfect, her eyeliner is intact, but her eyes are bloodshot.

She’s been crying.

That guilt expands.

I made Hannah cry.

But why the fuck does the mention of a sandwich make her cry?

I grit my teeth together.

This speculation is ridiculous. I just need to talk to her.

SIXTEEN

HANNAH

Settled in my chair, I can feel Maddox staring at me.

I want to ignore him, spend the rest of lunch looking anywhere else, but I force myself to meet his gaze.

His lips part like he might say something, but I mouth the word don’t.

There is literally nothing he can say or ask me in this setting that would make my current mental situation better.

He shuts his jaw, and I have one second to stress over the fact that I just silently snapped at my new boss. But then my favorite server in the world shows up, distracting everyone with food.

All the side conversations cut off as the plates are set down.

The heartache half of me isn’t hungry. But the half of me that’s starting to feel more angry than hurt knows that not eating will only draw attention to myself.

After unrolling my silverware, I set the napkin on my lap and pick up my wrap.

By my second bite, Brandon starts posturing and asking Maddox questions about the solar industry.

And by my fifth bite, it’s obvious to everyone, except maybe Brandon, that Maddox shouldn’t be underestimated. He might be an asshole, but he’s no one’s fool.