DASH by Shantel Tessier Read Free Book Online Page A

happily.
    “That sounds great,” I say lying back down in bed with a comfortable sigh.
    “You can bring Rodger,” he offers, and my shoulders slump. “I haven’t seen him in forever.” I bite on my lip trying to come up with an excuse to why Rodger can’t come, when he continues, “How about at the Gardens, say seven thirty?”
    “See you there. I love you.”
    “Love you too, sweet pea.”
    I hang up the phone and close my eyes getting back to my dirty dream with Dash.
     
    ***
     
    I had spent the day in bed daydreaming about Dash. Well, up until Jackie showed up and dragged me out of bed to go to some stupid yoga class and then to the mall to do some shopping.
    I pull up to the Gardens and leave my car with the valet. The waitress smiles as I walk in smoothing down my black dress. I chose something simple yet elegant. It’s tight fitting on my chest and has a red belt that circles high on my waist. Then the pleated skirt flares out. It might be a tad short for dinner with my dad, but I bought it today and wanted to wear it out as soon as possible.
    “Good evening Ms. Knight.” The hostess greets me.
    “Good evening.” I smile back.
    “They are right this way.” She turns and walks away from her station.
    I follow behind her frowning. They? Who is my dad here with? Maybe my mother is coming as well. Not likely, though. That woman is busier than my father most days.
    The hostess walks us up to the table as my father stands. “Hello, sweet pea.” He hugs me tightly then releases me. I turn to see Dash sitting there with a smug smile on his face.
    “Can I get you anything?” the hostess asks as she places her hand on his shoulder. I have to hold back my eye roll as she eyes him like she would love to have him served on a silver platter.
    “No. Thank you, though,” he answers keeping his eyes on me.
    I sit down looking at him, but speaking to my father. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
    “Well, I knew you were coming,” Dash smirks, and I can’t help but remember what those lips did to me just a few days ago.
    “Where is Rodger sweet pea?” my father asks, and my eyes shoot to Dash. He rolls his shoulders.
    I gulp down some of my water before I reply to him. “I don’t know.” I turn to him. “We broke up.”
    He frowns “Why? I thought that you two were in love?”
    I sigh, “No. We were not in love, Dad.” I was in love . I was an idiot who let my heart get the best of me!
    “What happened?” he asks, still frowning. He wouldn’t understand. To him, Rodger was a great guy who was ambitious and was going to one day rule the world. If I told him that our breakup started over me not wanting him to transfer to another college—he would side with Rodger. Not to be mean or unfair to me, but because he believes in doing what you must do to achieve your dreams. My father isn’t selfish like Rodger, though. He actually cares for people.
    “It just ran its course.” That was a lame excuse, but it was the best I could come up with. Guess I should have prepared myself for this conversation.
    “Why hadn’t I heard about this?” he asks, clearly not going to let it go.
    “It just happened,” I say with a careless shrug, wanting him to know that I’m okay with it. That his little girl’s heart is not torn open. It was, but for different reasons.
    “Well, I guess it’s better off you guys break up before marriage.” He nods to me.
    I nod back not really knowing how to respond to that. At one point, I saw myself marrying him. Then at another point I saw myself cutting him into little pieces and burying him in the backyard of our spring Villa where we would be living. Either way I would have gone totally insane. The waiter chooses this time to come and take our order and then silence falls on the table as I look around the restaurant. It’s a Saturday night, so it is fairly busy. Its lack of bright lights and whispers of others makes me comfortable.
    “What do you do?” Dash asks