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He nodded. His whole body hummed with nervous energy, and it was making me feel uneasy.
As soon as Claire turned onto our block, my heart beat faster… Because Josie flanked her side… She must’ve just been supporting Claire in the same way I was supporting Duke.
I slowly turned to Duke. He kept his eyes trained on the girls, but his tongue darted to the side as he licked his lips, all but confirming he was nervous.
Claire’s jaw angled to the side as she walked toward us and Josie gazed back at me with a confused look etched on her face. My girl had a red tipped nose and her shoulders were scrunched up from the cold. The urge to pull her into a warm hug hit me like a ton of bricks, but I stayed in my place considering how awkward that’d be to do in front of Duke and Claire, who weren’t even talking right now.
Duke stepped forward and pointed an index finger at the ground. “Claire, I am sorry, but we just need to talk this out, right now.”
Claire smoothed her blonde hair off her shoulder. “Wehave free appointments,” she said.
I turned on Duke with a murderous glare. “We?”I shoved him. “You ropedmygirl into your stupid plan? What the fuck, man?”
“Yes, free appointmentsto talk to us!” Duke called over me.
I spun around to face the girls. “Josie, I didn’t know he was going to include you,” I said desperately. “I thought this was for Claire. I’m just here because-”
Duke shoved me back and stood a little taller, but his face faltered a bit. “I’m your husband, Claire. You have to talk to me,” he demanded with crazed eyes.
She laughed out loud in his face, grabbed Josie’s arm, and whisked her toward the salon door.
“But… but you don’t actually have appointments,” Duke said, looking dumbfounded.
Claire pursed her lips. “Looks like we’re about to make them ourselves now. I’m thinking I may need somebigchanges,” she said.
“C’mon, babe, you… You don’t need… ” Duke struggled for words.
I pushed him aside. “Josie, I’m sorry, you don’t need to change anything. I wasn’t a part of this.Pleasebelieve me,” I said desperately.
But then they were inside, laughing and waving at us.
Duke looked like someone just kicked his puppy. “Fuck. I think we just made it worse,” he mumbled.
That practically lit me on fire. “We?Wemade it worse?” I shouted at him.
26. Josie
I sat on the plush couch in the waiting area and accepted a little flute of champagne. Claire and I could see the boys arguing outside the window. They were pushing each other back and forth, then suddenly had their arms wrapped around each other and were stumbling back and forth.
“Should we stop them?” I asked hesitantly.
Claire giggled. “No, only if punches are thrown above the neck, that’s the rule we grew up with. Tyler looks like he’s about to beat his ass, which he deserves,” she said with a snort. “Duke played himself.”
I blinked for a second at her words. She really did grow up with all the boys because that was never a rule I was made aware of growing up.
Tyler finally pulled away from Duke and held a hand to his head like he was thinking. A second later, he placed his hands in his pockets and turned to the window looking deflated. He faced me and mouthed, “I am sorry. It wasn’t me.”
Now I felt a bit bad using such a convincing poker face with him. I shrugged and gave him a small smile to reassure him that I wasn’t mad. He had nothing to be sorry for. We were simply caught in the crosshairs of a Duke and Claire battle.
“He thought he wassosmart.” Claire laughed haughtily while flipping through a glossy magazine. “He hates when I change my hair.”
“Huh?”
“I had blonde hair when I was a kid and he always loved it, but when he left me in the dust at sixteen, I dyed it pitch black just to spite him. He now associates me changing my hair with being in the dog house.”
“I get that. My last ex was always begging me to go blonder. Said girls were only pretty if they were blonde.”
Claire’s mouth dropped open. “He said that? Sounds like he was a total douche. Actually, let me rephrase, he sounds like an old geezer skating judge. The last couple years, my coaches forced me to go for a natural look because that’s what the judges like.”
