Given Time

♡2♡

The ladies' restroom is empty when I enter the room, and the only sound I can hear is the soft melody playing from the speakers above. Taking advantage of this, I skip over to the nearest cubicle and shut the door.

Like usual, the restaurant has kindly provided some fluffy towels on the side, so I dry my hands with one of these before I run my fingers through the loose waves of my red hair in an attempt to smooth it down. When I'm happy with the results, I grab my purse off the counter and exit the restroom.

As I walk through the door to head back to my table, I don't see the person standing in front of me, and crash into them, losing balance on my heels. My eyes widen in shock as I start to fall to the ground, and I brace for impact when I suddenly feel an immense pull on my waist. The force of this causes the air to escape from my lungs in a whooshing sound as the person pulls me back up into a standing position. My heart pounds heavily inside my chest from the near-miss I just had. That was a close call.

As I gather my bearings and take in the dimly lit hallway, I hear deep and heavy breaths nearby, making the hairs on my arms stand to attention. I turn to my side to look at the person who saved me, but my face drops when I realize it's Tanner. I groan inwardly. Of all the people who could have saved me!

Now that he is standing before me, I realize just how tall he has grown over the past year. He must be well over six feet now, compared to my five feet and six inches. A frown is etched across his face, and his hard eyes are burning a hole into me. He clicks his tongue impatiently, possibly waiting for me to thank him from stopping me from falling.

In defiance, I consider leaving the small hallway, saying nothing, but my manners soon take over. "Thank you for catching me," I murmur.

"Well, if you had looked where you were going, I wouldn't have had to."

What a jerk!

"Why were you even standing there? The men's room is down the hallway. You know that as you've been here enough times," I say crossly, wrapping my arms around my waist, feeling the familiar velvet of my dress.

Tanner kicks the wooden floor with his foot once and breathes in and out heavily a few times. It looks as if he's finding it hard to say the words he's about to speak. "I know that. I actually came to wait for you so I could talk to you out of the earshot of our parents."

"Oh."

What does he even want to talk to me about? Annoyingly a part of me is curious as to what it could be. I look at him, waiting for him to elaborate further but he remains mute. Growing tired of waiting for him to get the point I huff. "Well, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"A truce."

"A truce?" I ask, fiddling with the strap on my purse. What the hell does that even mean?

"Yeah. With both of us going to Berkeley, we're bound to bump into each other there. So I thought it would be easier if we tried to put our differences behind us."

"Did your dad put you up to this?" I ask accusingly. No way in hell did Tanner come up with this by himself.

He shrugs one of his shoulders. "He may have suggested it, but he has a point. It's not like we can exactly get away from each other. With our families being close, and us going to the same college, we might as well try to make an effort."

I raise my eyes to the heavens. "Haven't we proven tonight that we are incapable of doing that? Even with a year apart, we still end up fighting when we're in the same room together," I tell him with an exasperated sigh.

"I know that, but maybe we should still try anyway? It might make our time at college together easier."

The idea of this does not sound appealing at all. I don't want to go to college and have to pretend to be nice to him. I hope to avoid him at all costs and have my own college experience, sans Tanner. "Don't you think it's better to just keep our distance when we're at Berkeley?"

He furrows his brows together. "So, you don't even want to try?"

I shake my head. "Not really. I don't believe it would work, anyway." Plus, I wouldn't want to call a truce with someone who goes out of their way to wind me up or embarrass me.

In a split second, Tanner's face goes hard and his body tenses. "If that's the way you're acting, then I don't know why I even bothered. You always were stubborn."

"At least I'm not an asshole," I respond angrily.

Done with this conversation, I pull the strap of my purse higher up my shoulder and try to step around Tanner to get back to the restaurant, but as fast as lightning, he grabs me by the arms and pins me against the hard wall. "We're not done yet," he growls in my ear as he slams his hand on the wall beside my head.

I flinch from the echo of the sound of his hand hitting the wall. "Tanner, let me go," I plead as I try to pull my arm free.

I'm highly aware of how his body is pressing flush against mine, and I swallow hard as my pulse accelerates wildly from his close proximity. The pressure on my arms is hurting as he grips me tighter, and I let out a small groan of protest. His eyes drop to my mouth, and before I have time to move, his lips crash against mine.

I stand frozen in shock as I feel his rough lips move against mine. He bites the bottom of my lip with his teeth, pulling me out my shock. I manage to wriggle my right hand free from his grip and pull my hand back, slapping him across his face as hard as I can.

Tanner instantly steps back, holding his cheek. "What the fuck?"

"What the hell is wrong with you!" I shout, rubbing the pain on my left arm. "You can't just manhandle me, then kiss me. You seriously have a problem, Tanner!"

His eyes go wide like he's fully comprehending what he just did. He takes a step toward me, and I cower closer to the wall. "Don't come anywhere near me, Tanner!"

He freezes immediately on the spot, and his eyes drop to my arms, where I'm still trying to ease the pain away. I'm so mad at him. I can't even stand to look at him. "I'm done with this. Do you see what I mean now? How can you expect a truce when you act like an ass all the time!"

Tanner tries to speak, but I raise my hand to silence him. "Let's just get back to the table before our parents miss us," I stammer.

Before he can say anything else, I briskly walk past him, hearing the sounds of my heels echoing in the hallway as they connect with the wooden floor.

With effort, I push on the door connecting through to the restaurant and head back to the table to be in the safe presence of my parents. Thank God tonight is about to end, because I am beyond done with it.

What do you guys make of it all? Was you expecting Leah to slap Tanner? Did he deserve it? 🤔

xoxo