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Hunter groans and rolls his eyes. “Yes, I will give you a fucking ride. And what do you mean she seems fine? You’ve been gone for two months. Shouldn’t you be the one who has noticed she’s a bit different?”
Seth shrugs. “A bit different how.” He perks up as if he’s in class and suddenly has discovered the right answer to the teacher’s question. “Her breasts have gotten huge!” He cups his hands in front of his chest and makes squeezing motions.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing but Hunter scowls and shake his head. “That’s not what I was getting at, Seth,” Hunter says angrily. “I mean, I’m worried she’s developed a binge eating disorder.”
Seth scoffs. “Doubtful.”
“She could be depressed!”
“Hunter, my man,” Seth starts, resting his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter eyes it as if he wants to rip it from Seth’s arm and smack him in the face with it. “You’re worried about nothing. Now, I have had a very rough, long, emotionally draining day that still has yet to end since I must go on a run before I go to bed. Or else the sexy body I achieved over the summer will disappear faster than tacos on Taco Tuesday.”
Hunter doesn’t say anything. He’s so focused on scowling at Seth I don’t think he even registered what was said. Seth stares at Hunter, waiting for him to move towards the door. Hunter doesn’t even twitch. It’s like I’m watching a silent battle going on and I have no idea who is winning. I would place my money on Seth.
“By the way,” I rush out, knowing I might be shooting myself in the foot here given the heightened tension in the air, “the book launch party will be taking place here.”
I watch the mixture of expressions overload Seth’s face. First, there’s confusion, then realization, followed by anger, before finally settling on disdain as he turns those brown eyes on me. “It’s on—”
“October 3rd,” he finishes in an annoyed voice. “I know.”
“You should take the night off,” I rush out. I can see he’s struggling to keep his eyes from rolling, but I press on, “Everyone is coming. It’ll be a fun night out with Rachel. There will even be food and drinks.”
Seth purses his lips, his eyes narrowing on me for a moment too long. The silence is deafening as I wait for him to respond, to at least give me a polite nod, but instead, he turns on his heel and storms out of the bar.
Hunter’s sigh fills the silence. “Looks like he’s still mad.”
“Yep.”
Hunter smacks my shoulder. “Don’t worry, he won’t stay mad for long.”
“I hope not.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Hunter grabs his keys from his pocket and swirls them around his finger while he stalks after Seth.
“You don’t have to!” I call after Hunter, watching him go.
“I still will!”
The door closes behind Hunter and I lean against the bar, wondering how long Seth will continue to loath my heart and soul for not speaking to him first about the book. One would think he’d be excited his friend got published. This has been a dream in the making. I expected this attitude from my father, but not from him. I only hope one of these days he can forgive me.
Chapter 6
RACHEL
“So,lastSaturdayIasked him, ‘Hey watcha wanna do tonight,’” Charlie says while showing me and Lauren her text messages between her and Mike. Her long, perfectly manicured red nail directs our eyes to the message. My stomach churns threateningly and I swallow preemptively.
“And he responds with—”
“Alien vs. Predator is playing tonight at ten,” Lauren reads. She makes a face at me and Charlie, her frown nearly making a circle.
“What’s so bad about a movie?” I ask. I hate to admit it, but I haven’t quite been paying attention to Charlie and her antics with Mike. Like at all these days. If I’m not thinking about telling the bros about the bun in my oven, I’m thinking about telling my parents about their future grandpa renting days, or focusing on not throwing up… or peeing. I wonder if I have time to go pee before class starts.
My eyes slide to the clock and I stifle the groan. The professor is going to be in any minute now. Can I hold it?
“It’s bad,” Charlie says very loudly, nearly making me jump out of my seat, “because that’s all he ever wants to do.” She throws her hands up dramatically, nearly knocking her black purse and large latte off her desk. Lauren, like a freaking ninja, reaches out with speed I never knew she possessed, and grabs the desk to keep both latte and purse balanced on the table. “There’s no romance. There’s no trying. All we do is go to the movies, eat popcorn, and have sex.”
I shrug. “That doesn’t seem so bad.” That’s actually exactly what I want to do now. Suddenly, I’m craving a large bucket of buttery, salty popcorn. I wonder if the bros would be interested in going out to the movies tonight.
“I want romance.” Charlie fists her hands in front of her, almost sliding off her seat and onto her knees. She glances upward, seemingly praying or begging a higher power as she calls out, “I want someone who actually puts effort into a date. Is that so hard to ask?”
