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“What else did you want?” I ask with a frown. He doesn’t seem happy.
“I want to be friends.”
I bark a laugh. This again. “Friends? Seriously?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You and I cannot be friends. Or have you forgotten that you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you,” he says.
I don’t respond, only pin him with a stare.
Brett sighs. “Look, I get that I was an ass to you when we were in school. But that’s a decade ago, Jen. What, are we supposed to hold a grudge for the rest of our lives?”
He’s right; it seems petty when he puts it that way. But he’s still the same asshole he was back then. A leopard doesn’t change his spots.
“You’re right,” I finally say. “It’s been a decade. And yet, you’re still the guy who sleeps with girls only to walk away the next morning.”
“I’m not the one who walked away.”
“Are you telling me you would have wanted something else?” I ask. “Would you have wanted to get breakfast together, cuddle, maybe taken a shower together? Did you want to know what my day looks like?”
He hesitates.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” I say when he doesn’t answer me. He has a strange expression on his face. I can’t tell what he’s thinking. But I tell myself I don't care.
A server arrives to take our order. Brett orders two cups of coffee and waits until the server leaves again before he turns to me.
“Come on, Jen,” he says.
“It’s Jenna.” I don’t want him giving me nicknames. I need to keep this man at arms’ length. He’s so damn charming and handsome and my knees turn to jelly when I see him. I can’t let him get closer. I can’t get attached. He’s just going to break my heart. Men like him don’t give women like me what we need.
“Right. Jenna,” he says. I like the way he says my name. I try to ignore the shiver that runs down my spine. “Don’t you think you can get rid of that stick up your ass and we can do this thing together?”
I blink at him. “You did not just say I have a stick up my ass.”
He grins at me. “You’re so uptight. We’re in Hawaii, babe. Relax a little.”
I bristle. “Don’t call me babe. And I’m not here to have a ball; I’m here to make sure Stacey’s wedding is perfect. I know you don’t care about stuff like that. I’m surprised you’re not trying to split them up.”
“That’s not fair,” he says.
“No? Happy with their union, then?”
“Come on, will you quit referring to the past? Jesus, you’re holding onto shit that happened when we were kids. We’re different people.”
“Are we?” I ask. He’s making me sound petty, and I don’t like it. “Do you want to tell me that you’ve changed? You’re not sleeping around, treating women like shit, and doing whatever it is you do for personal gain?”
"None of that was the issue when we were younger," he snaps. "So, I fuck around. So what? This isn't about that. None of it is."
He's right, even if I don't want to admit it. I'm just grabbing at something I know will sting because I can't justify how I feel about him and I'm trying to push him away. But I don't know who he is anymore. It's been so long, andI haven’t kept tabs on him. I don’t know what his life has been like since we left school.
“Did I treat you like shit last night?” he asks.
I can’t say that he did. Our night together was great. And he was so attentive while we were together. He didn’t just want to get off; he cared about me, too.
“Look, let’s not do this, okay?” I say without answering his question. “There’s no reason for us to be in each other’s faces all the time. We can just write it off for what it is and move forward. You do your thing; I’ll do mine.”
