"I'm going to say it like Violeta would: Why haven't you dumped that motherfucker yet? He's stringing you along. It's not going to change."
"Hey, be nice!" Vic said in a scoldy tone to Toby, smacking him on the shoulder.
Turning to Vic, he said, "She needs to hear it," then turned back to me. "You shouldn't put up with his shit anymore. How long has it been? What would you tell Chloe if she were in this situation?"
I curled my knees up to my chest, glancing out at the dark ocean that spit waves towards us. "I don't wanna talk about Adam right now..."
Toby began to speak, but Vic stopped him from crossing a boundary. Not that I cared... people rarely respect my boundaries anyway.
"You don't have to talk about him," Vic said, placing a comforting hand on my knee. "Toby's just jealous cuz he doesn't have some dude of his own to shit talk." He winked and grinned at Toby, who I predicted would be unimpressed, but instead wore a drunkenly giddy expression.
"I could get anyone I wanted, but I don't need a relationship. She needs to learn how to be alone."
Vic groaned in frustration. "Will you stop?! What's up with you today? You're being a jackass. She's entitled to have and experience her feelings. Why the fuck am I explaining this to a shrink?" He said it with a hint of Violet's sass, keeping a positive energy as he effortlessly changed the subject. "So Chloe, has the fam been treating you well so far? Are we much different from your people back home?"