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Chapter 9
Hope Jones
The following day
"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Stacy asked.
"I would, but I don't know what to expect," I said. "It's their get-together. I already feel like I'm intruding going by myself."
"I am so jealous," Stacy said.
"I'm so nervous," I said, hoping to make her feel better. "I'd love if you could go with me."
"I want to so bad."
"I mean, I thought you'd want to be with Charlie, and I could try to talk to AJ this time, but if you're thinking about talking to AJ, I could talk to Charlie. Also, what about Beck or any of the others? Who all's in town?"
She was being hyper, and I shrugged and gestured to the food. "They ordered twenty burgers, that's all I know."
We were outside of the restaurant. I had volunteered to come to pick up some food on the way to Broken Arrow because something went wrong with their plans to barbeque.
"What would make you say that about Charlie?"
"Say what about Charlie? That I wanted to talk to him? Because he's hot."
"No. What would make you say you thought I would want to start seeing Charlie."
"You already are."
"No, we aren't," I said defensively.
She made a face at me.
"We're just hanging out because we're friends. I think he's starting to feel better about his wife. I think he'll be going back to Florida soon."
"He's leaving?" she asked.
I nodded and shrugged. "That's the plan. He'll head back after this summer."
"You're going to be devastated. You hang out like every day."
"I will miss him," I said, not bothering to deny it. "But we don't hang out every day. Twice a week. Three times, max."
She made another face at me.
"Maybe four times."
"And you text all the time," she said.
"Not all the time. You're making something out of nothing."
"I am not," she said, shaking her head.
"Well, I promise there's nothing going on between Charlie and me," I said. I sounded convinced because I was convinced. There was nothing going on between us. "I'm helping him. He went through a lot and I'm helping him. I actually don't feel attracted to him. I don't want somebody who's been married. That's too much baggage for me."
"I see what you mean, but I don't care," she said "I'm totally good with Charlie, baggage or no baggage."
"I don't think he's ready for all that, anyway."
