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As though he senses what I’m thinking, Jack twists fully in his chair and drops his elbow on the table so Yoyo can’t see his expression. His lips are a thin line of frustration as he glares at me.
“You can’t be serious about this,” he mutters, just loud enough that I can hear.
“We had a deal,” I mutter back.
He squints his eyes shut and shakes his head tightly.
“That was a joke, Chelsea,” he growls. “I can’t believe you brought her right to the table… Is this a test? Are you… I don’t get it!”
“So I work for developer. Just here for a conference!” Yoyo blares behind Jack’s back. “Wow, those oysters smell amazing!”
“Help yourself,” Chance offers with a wave of his hand. “Please, be my guest.”
Jack reaches out and pulls my hand from where I have it wedged between my knees. He tugs on my fingers urgently.
“Seriously, Chelsea,” he says in a low voice.
Holding his hand seems wrong right now, and I push it away so that nobody can see.
“This is totally messed up,” I mumble to myself.
“It really isn’t,” he answers in rapid whisper. “It’s really simple, if you think about it. We’ve been having a great time. We always have a great time. Everything is… It’s good, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”
I shrug and shake my head helplessly.
It is? I think it is. But there are rules, right?
Chance and Yoyo continue to chat behind Jack, but he won’t let go. I try to pull my hand away completely, and he holds it even tighter.
“What you expect me to do here?” he asks me with an edge in his voice.
“You promised,” I remind him resolutely.
He narrows his silvery gray eyes at me and flares his nostrils in irritation. I see the shake of his head as he finally releases my hand and turns in his seat to face Yoyo. There’s a brief moment where he connects with Chance, some silent relay of information between them, a conversation that probably ends with a decision. Something I don’t want to see.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Ugh. I want to be sick.
Yoyo just chats and chats and chats, thrilled to be herself. She is just the same: a girl who effortlessly commands the attention of everybody in the room. Beautiful. Chatty and sexy. The kind of girl everybody wants to be, or wants to be with.
Fine. This is fine. I should’ve known it was always going to end this way anyway.
“I really can’t believe you guys live in Lake Geneva!” she bleats. “I am just in Arlington Heights! I should come up and visit you, don’t you think? Chelsea? Where do you live?”
I freeze in my chair, realizing that suddenly the spotlight is on me. All three of them wait expectantly for my answer. Where do I live? Seriously? Is that a question?
Chance and Jack both raise their eyebrows, demanding that I step up and make a decision.
“Oh, actually I… guess I never really—”
“She lives in Lake Geneva too,” Jack answers, cutting me off.
She raises her perfectly plucked and shaded eyebrows. “What a great coincidence! Do you guys get to hang out much?”
Chance shoots me a look that tells me I’m no longer in control of this conversation.
“Yeah, we hang out all the time. We live together.”
