Page 48 of Heavy Crown

Posey cups her hand around my ear. “Tell him Café Plutus—dinner. He pays.”

She’s suggesting the most expensive and exclusive restaurant on the island. It’s not in Tucker’s Town but instead perched on a cliff in a small town almost a thirty-minute drive from here. Derrick once told me going there was the equivalent of taking a lighter to his salary.

“You really want to make it up to me?” I ask. He’ll never agree, but my request might put an end to this ridiculous notion that he cares. “Take me to Café Plutus for dinner to make up for the shittiest birthday on record. You pay, of course.”

Derrick’s eyes widen. “Café Plutus?”

Posey rests her arm on my shoulder. “Babe, you fucked up. It’s Plutus or bust.”

Derrick’s jaw tightens, and he works his mouth as though grinding his teeth. “Their reservation list is long. I may need a few weeks.”

“Perfect,” Posey says, and she loops her arm with mine. “If you’re still interested in making amends in a couple weeks, it’ll be easier for us to believe you’re serious.”

“Us?” Derrick raises his eyebrows. “Since when do you two know each other?”

“Oh.” Posey pretends to be offended. “You didn’t know we were friends? Wow, Derrick. Just—wow. Clearly you were neglecting Rory far longer than I suspected.”

My insides are rioting with the urge to laugh.

His gaze narrows, and then he chuckles. “You’re screwing with me. Rory looks as shocked as I feel about your friendship claims.” He shakes his head. “You want Café Plutus, Ror, I’ll make it happen. I’ll text you the details when our reservation is confirmed.”

“Oh.” There’s no way I’m concealing my shock this time either. I expected him to say no. My request was supposed to put an end to his groveling.

“I made a huge mistake, and if Café Plutus is what it takes to make it right, then I guess that’s what I’m doing.” He shrugs as though it’s not a big deal.

Spending that much money is a big deal to Derrick, but more importantly, he’s fluffing off the emotional side of what he did. Since the minute I ran down those stairs, he’s been trying to buy me back. Will he genuinely try to win me back? Or will we have dinner and he’ll consider my loyalty paid for?

“Text me,” I say, and I let Posey drag me toward the bathrooms.

“At least you’ll get a nice dinner,” Posey says. “You should take your own car, though. He clearly doesn’t get that one expensive dinner or five hundred boxes of chocolates or even a daily delivery of orchids can erase what he did.”

“It did seem that way, didn’t it?” I say. “Like he expects us to be even after Café Plutus?”

“He’s not ready to do the emotional work.” She checks her appearance in the oversized restroom mirror. From her purse, she takes out mascara. “Emotional labor is the best gift you can ever give anyone. He’s not there yet. But you’ll find someone who is, and when you do, they won’t need to take you to Café Plutus in place of a genuine apology.” She slides the mascara back into her purse and takes out a lip gloss.

“That psych minor with your interior design degree comes in handy, huh?” I chuckle.

“I also really love self-help books.” She shrugs and then checks the time on her phone. “All right. We need to go back and rescue Brent.”

“Rescue Brent?”

“Brice will have ordered more alcohol by now, and despite his promise, he’ll be trying to talk Brent into Truth and Tequila.”

“What is that?” I ask.

“A game Nick and Brice play whenever they get sloppy drunk. They either have to answer a tough, intensely personal question, or take a shot of tequila. To say it can get wild is an understatement.”

My mind darts to the questions I’d never want to answer truthfully, and I grimace. “Sounds awful.”

“Welcome to the royal family, babe.” She winks at me. “They’re two-parts awful and one part amazing.”

So far, my experience is three parts amazing. Other than our ill-fated trip to the grocery store, everything has been great. As we leave the restroom, my conversation with Derrick fully clicks.

“Did I agree to go on a date with my cheating ex-boyfriend?”

“You did,” Posey says. “Don’t worry. It’ll take him weeks to get into Café Plutus. By then, he might have given up. Best evil strategy ever. He has to sit with his feelings for weeks—assuming he has any—before he gets to pour out his tiny, concrete heart. Between the money and the wait, Derrick will have to be serious about getting back together.”

“Right,” I agree as we reach our seats with Brent and Brice. Just as Posey predicted. There’s a bottle of tequila in the center of the low table.