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“Stop it, I’m still mad at you.”
“Seriously? What is there to be mad at?” Brad finishes my beer and shrugs his shoulders. “Unless…”
“Unless, what?”
“The real reason you’re mad is because I crashed your alone time with Jackson,” he says with a mock swoon, placing the back of his hand against his forehead.
“Grow up.” I groan.
But Brad’s right. I’m not mad that he utilized the locator app to ensure my safety; it was a thoughtful thing to do. If I was on my way to his place and hadn’t heard from him in hours, I would have done the same. Probably. The real reason I’m pissed is because he showed up while I was trying to have a fun night with my friend. I would act the exact same way if I were out with Lyndsey. It has nothing to do with Jackson.
“What are you doing at a bar with him, anyway? I thought you had wedding stuff scheduled?”
“Wedding stuff?” I snort. Way to be involved. “Yes, I actually went to a cake tasting today. I put a deposit down and booked the place, crisis averted. Thanks for asking. Jackson came with me, and that’s why we’re both here in Austin.”
“So Jackson helped pick out my wedding cake?”
“Our wedding cake, and don’t start this crap again.”
Before Brad can answer, Jackson places one beer and Brad’s bourbon sour onto the table.
“I think I’m going to head home,” he says.
“Yeah, it’s getting late,” I agree, reaching behind me to grab my purse.
“Rory,” Brad interjects.
“We’ve got my Jeep.”
“Jackson, do you mind driving Rory’s car home and I’ll swing by with her tomorrow to pick it up?”
“His car is still at the baseball field,” I answer for him.
“It’s fine. I’ll drop your car off at your place tonight and have one of the guys take me to get my truck.”
“See?” Brad says. “Everything’s worked out.”
Jackson’s eyes finally meet mine, and he gives me a wink.
“Thank you for hanging out with me today,” I tell him.
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t pass up the free cake.”
“Good man. I see why you picked him to be your maid of honor.” Brad holds out his fist for Jackson to bump. “Drive home safe.”
Jackson hides his annoyance well, but I see it. He taps his knuckles to Brads. “Goodnight.”
I watch Jackson walk away until he’s completely out of sight. There’s a huge part of me that wishes I was leaving with him instead of staying here with Brad. But I quickly correct myself. The only reason I feel like this is because I’m still not over our fight about the genetic testing. Therefore, every little thing Brad does is extra irritating. That has to be it, right?
“Oh, this is disgusting.” Brad cringes after taking a sip of his drink. “The band is back, too. Quick, let’s get out of here before all that noise starts up again.”
Or maybe Brad is just really, really irritating, and I’m only now realizing it.
