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13
When I knockedon the door and asked to see Juliet, Jamie just stared at me blankly for a long moment like I’d lost my damn mind.
Maybe I had, but that wasn’t any of his fucking business.
“She’s at work.”
“Well, when does she get off?”
He clucked his tongue as his eyes swept down my body, his face twisting into a look of disapproval.
“Are those the same clothes you left here in this morning?” I clenched my jaw and he let out another cluck. “You look totally crazed right now, man.”
“Listen kid, just tell me what time Juliet gets off work and you won’t have to look at my clothes any longer.”
His eyebrows drew together and his head reared back like the suggestion was absolutely ridiculous. Then—to my great horror—he swung the door open wider and said, “Come in.”
No. No, no, no this was not what I needed right now. I was running on pure adrenaline for the first time in a long while and it felt fucking fantastic. I didn’t want to tone down the crazy at all.
“Get in here! You’ll let bugs in!”
Jamie’s irritated snap made me growl and move inside, closing the door behind me. He appeared from the kitchen a moment later, holding a beer out to me.
“If you would please indulge me, I need to speak to you for a few minutes. This might be the only chance I’ll get to do it without Juliet around.”
“You really aren’t making me want to stick around,” I said dryly.
“Oh my God—would you just sit down? It’s important.”
I watched as he sat on the couch and I smirked at the thought of what happened on that couch the night before. We had cleaned the place up before Jamie got home from his date, but I’d never be able to wipe the memory from my mind. I took a seat in the recliner and gestured for him to speak while taking a long draw from the crappy beer.
“Obviously, I need to talk to you about Juliet,” he said slowly, pursing his lips when he saw my eyebrow raise. “It’s not about your relationship—at least not directly. Besides, I’ve already pointed out the many reasons why your relationship might be doomed to her. She doesn’t care and I doubt you would either.”
“Fair enough. So what’s this about?”
Jamie glanced at the roses briefly before turning back to me. “Juliet gave me the rundown about your fight last night. Said you made an offhand offer for us to move in with you.”
“It wasn’t offhand. It was legitimate.”
“You’d really let me move into your house just to help her?” he asked incredulously, laughing when I nodded. “You know, I take back all the shit I said about you. You’re not like the other guys she’s dated.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Don’t take it personally. It’s my job to point out things that she may be blinded to. She does the same for me. It’s just what it means to be a best friend.”
I didn’t say it, but his words made me wish I’d had a best friend back when I was dating Sarah. I had plenty of casual friends back then who’d make passive-aggressive comments that I really should have listened to, but they never came from someone whose opinion I truly valued.
Back then, the last thing I needed was more little warning signs. I needed someone to drop a fucking anvil on my head. It might have made a huge difference in my life if I had someone like Jamie around.
“I get it. So is that what this is about? You want to take me up on my offer? Because I’m not bluffing—I’ll get a moving truck here today.”
“No. You see, I already have somewhere to go. I don’t know if Juliet’s said much to you about me, but I’m in a pretty serious relationship. It got really serious three months ago when he asked me to move in with him.”
She’d said enough for me to know that he did have a serious boyfriend, but the rest was news to me. Considering he wanted to have this conversation without her around, I wondered if she even knew it.
“But you said no.”
“I did. His apartment is even smaller than this house—too small to bring Juliet with me. And while she does pay two-thirds of the bills around here to support me, she wouldn’t be able to keep the place without the portion I put up. She just doesn’t make enough to cover it all on her own.”
