Chapter 131

Patrick Banks POV

I didn’t ignore the call because I was guilty of something. I just knew Valerie would get the wrong idea if she saw Madison’s name flashing across my screen.

The only thing I could think of was flipping the phone to the other side. But when a text came in, she grabbed the phone before I could even move.

I didn’t want to drag it from her, so I just stayed still.

But I had to take it when I saw the look on her face after reading the text.

Her lips were pressed so tightly together like she was psychically holding back the words she wanted to throw at me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but words didn’t come out. How could I possibly explain the text she had just seen? We just stayed at each other in silence, the only sound coming from the violinist.

Finally, I cleared my throat. “It’s not what you think,” I muttered.

She exhaled sharply. “Thank you for dinner.”

She shook her head and stood up from the chair. We hadn’t