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“Jesus. This conversation is over.”
“Don’t you use Tinder? I would, if I were single.”
“No, I don’t, and I have no intention of doing so. The idea is abhorrent to me.”
“Maybe if you stopped using words like abhorrent, you might get laid.”
“Will you leave me alone?”
“You’re a weird guy, Alex Winters. You realize she probably has no idea you like her?”
“I’m not listening.”
“I’m just saying. It’s hard enough nowadays when we all have to be careful with our signals. You might have to be a little more obvious.”
“Stop interfering. I don’t need your help.”
“I think you do.”
“I absolutely don’t, and I thank you to refrain from being so meddlesome.”
“There you go again. Meddlesome? Where are you from, 1852?”
Irritation flares inside me. “Do you really want to get into a discussion with me about our love lives and who we should be with?”
I’ve known for a long time that she has a secret crush on Henry, but when they first met, he was with the woman he eventually married. Juliette obviously thought that was it and met Cameron, an accountant, and they’ve now been together for several years. Then, just before Tyson’s wedding, Henry announced that he and Shaz were getting divorced. That’s shaken us all, and I can only imagine how it’s thrown Juliette up in the air.
She flushes. We glare at each other for a long moment.
“That was a low blow,” she says, and her eyes fill with tears, which is very unusual for her.
Immediately, my frustration vanishes. She’s one of my very best friends, and the last thing I want to do is upset her.
“Aw, come here.” I put my arms around her, and she buries her face in my chest. “I’m sorry,” I murmur.
She shakes her head, not lifting her face. “We argue all the time.”
I’m guessing she means her partner, Cam. “Ah, I’m sorry.”
“I love him, Alex. I really do.”
“I know. And he loves you. I know he does.”
“Yeah. But sometimes I think he doesn’t like me very much.”
I rest my lips on her hair, feeling unutterably sad. Relationships are hard. I’ve had several long-term ones that ended, and it’s always tough.
She turns her head and leans her cheek on my chest. “I don’t mean to annoy you. I think she likes you, that’s all, and it’s so easy to miss the signs and let things slip by.”
“I’m not an idiot, Juliette. I know what I’m doing.”
She gives a short laugh and moves away, rubbing her nose. “Yeah. Sorry.”
I frown. “You and Cam… are you going to be okay?”
She shrugs. “I guess time will tell.” She walks away, leaving me with an uneasy sense that things are changing, whether we like it or not.
*
