I focus on the half-eaten burger in front of me, trying to act calm.
“Seriously, guys. What’s up?” Korie pushes. “You’re all acting weird.”
Miles sits up. “You’re just extra happy to see Holden today. That’s all.”
Korie’s eyes widen and they turn to me. It takes them a second, then they look at our food, and back at their friends, sputtering a laugh.
“You think…” Korie pauses. “Oh, God no. That’s not—no!”
Miles and Sophie share matching looks of disbelief. Because yeah. This looks couple-y.
Painfully couple-y.
The shared food. The waiting for each other. Me showing up here on my day off just because I wanted to see them for half an hour. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been doing this since we could drive. It matters now that they’re dangerously close to the truth.
I don’t even care if they know.
Korie laughs harder. “Seriously, that’s—no. It’s just lunch.”
Their quick dismissal shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.
I swallow it down with another bite of food. “They’re right. It’s just lunch,” I say flatly.
Miles shrugs, clearly not buying it. “Okay.”
Sophie brings up going out for a movie soon, and Korie immediately latches onto the change of topic with enthusiasm. I lose interest, trying to make sense of Korie’s quick dismissal. I didn’t expect them to make this public any time soon, but would it really be so bad if our friends knew?
Eventually, lunch breaks up. Korie walks me to the elevator like they always do, one hand hooked loosely around their soda cup.
“Sorry about them being weird,” they mutter.
I avoid making eye contact. “They weren’t the ones being weird.”
Korie halts, hand touching my arm. When I finally look at them, their expression shifts, and they mutter a soft curse. “You’re mad?”
Confused? Yes. A little hurt? Yes. But mad? No.
I shake my head. “Just… not sure I understand, is all.”
They fold their arms over their chest, curling inward. When they speak, their voice is quiet. “I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know how to handle this. Like, any of it.”
I shove a hand into my pocket. “Yeah. I got that from your texts thinking we were a one night stand.”
Korie’s face pales.
The elevator dings, and I step toward it. “I get it, though. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Holden.”
“We’re good, Kor.”
I try to smile before the doors close, but my heart is heavy. Korie’s face is a mix of shock, hurt, and anger before they’re gone.
I know I shouldn’t take this so seriously. Hell, we’ve barely talked about what is happening between us. But I can’t shake how ugly it felt to be thrown aside so quickly.
Whatever this is, whatever it’s becoming is anything but a one-time thing. It’s becoming a little more real each time we get together, and I thought Korie was feeling the same way.
Now, I’m not so sure.
