AllFreeNovel
Share Us
On the drive home, he passed the grocery store where he and Hannah had left her car the night before. He impulsively turned into the lot to see if it was still there. After driving around for a few minutes and not seeing it, he grunted with satisfaction.
It wasn’t even eleven, but her father must have driven her over already to pick it up.
By the time he got home and showered, it was time for lunch. He was making himself a turkey sandwich and soup when James strode into the kitchen.
“Hey, man. Something happen last night?” James glanced over while pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Eric could feel the blood drain from his head as his muscles coiled.
Shit.
“Last night?” He tried to play it off casual, slicing his sandwich and glancing at his friend.
“Yeah. I thought we were going to drink cider and watch Infinity War.”
Ah, hell.
The minute he’d stepped in to help Hannah last night, he’d completely forgotten about the comment he’d made earlier in the day to James. The one where he’d made James promise to take a break from studying and decompress with some pizza, cider, and a Marvel movie for a night.
And Eric had completely forgotten about it. Blown him off to protect James’s ex-girlfriend.
Congratufuckinglations on being the worse friend in history, asshole.
“Aw, crap.” He set down his sandwich and sighed. “Man, I am so sorry. Something important came up—” it wasn’t a lie “—and I completely spaced it.”
Again, not a lie.
James shrugged, not appearing overly concerned. “It’s all good. I got in more studying that I probably needed anyway.”
Guilt immediately ate at Eric for not bringing up seeing Hannah last night. That she’d been the reason he’d forgotten.
What if it got back to James that they’d been seen talking at the store? Or even leaving together in his car?
Small risk, but probably one he shouldn’t take.
Eric cleared his throat.
Nothing happened between you guys. You have no reason to feel guilty. Just tell him and leave out the part about the surprise boner.
“Actually, I gotta be honest.” The muscles in his back were so tight his head started to pound. “I ran into Hannah at the store last night.”
James stilled, before slowly setting down the coffeepot.
“You saw her?”
Eric gave a small nod. “She was upset. The dad of one of her students has been giving her weird vibes, and he was at the store bugging her. I stepped in to get him to back off.”
James turned, his brows furrowed and his mouth taut. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. I took care of it and made sure she got home okay.”
He didn’t add he spent hours back at her place, because that would just rub salt in his friend’s wound. Even still, it was impossible to miss the hint of jealousy mixed with the concern on his friend’s face.
“Has she talked to the school?” James asked.
“I’m sure she will if it gets serious. Don’t worry too much about it.” Eric shrugged and let out a small sigh. “I just wanted to be up-front about running into her. Figured you’d wanna know.”
“I do. Thanks. And thank you for stepping in and getting the guy to back off.” James took a sip of coffee. “Maybe I’ll send her a text later. Check in on her.”
