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I’ll admit, the boy scout caught me off guard with that remark. I nearly choke on my gasp, but there is no way I’m letting him get the best of me.
My tongue runs over my front teeth before it clicks, and I smirk. “Trust me, honey, there’re a lot of men in this town who can say they’ve done those things and more. It’s only a big deal if you make it one.”
My words leave a sour taste in my mouth. I’m not sure if it’s the hurtful, embarrassing truth I spoke about myself, or the lie that our night together didn’t matter to me. Spencer needed to hear all of it, though. He needs to know the kind of person I am, so he’ll let go of our little moment. And he needs to believe that night meant nothing to me. Now, if only someone can convince me of that.
The smug look falls right off his stupid, handsome face, and I head to my car.
Spencer
Her hair whips in the wind as she turns her back to me with a childish huff, her footsteps quick as she walks away.
My hands run through my hair as I question why I’d even bothered coming here in the first place. The woman makes it impossible to have a normal, civilized conversation. What made me think this time would be any different? Honestly, I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it before I showed up here. After dinner last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about her—wondering why she is the way she is. It’s like the more she tries to shut me out, the more I want to break in.
At some point between my sleepless night and being distracted at work, I decided I should talk to her one on one again. It was supposed to give me another opportunity to see if I imagined the connection I felt between us. There’s no question I feel that on my end, but maybe she never felt it on hers.
Before she can get too far, I’m jogging after her, knowing I can’t let her leave without getting the answers I came for.
“Lori, wait.”
She shakes her head, looking over her shoulder long enough to shoot me an annoyed glance. “Good lord, what do you want now?”
She’s forced to slow down as she reaches her car, giving me the chance to catch up with her as she unlocks her door. Not realizing I’m right behind her, she turns, nearly slamming right into me. When her eyes meet mine, I remind myself kissing her is not an option. As if reading my thoughts, her cheeks flush, but she quickly recovers, slipping her mask back into place.
“Jesus, creeper,” she says, taking a step back.
“Sorry.” I smirk, enjoying the fact that she seems so flustered. She feels this thing between us too, she’s merely lying to herself. “I wanted to ask, since we’re pretending nothing ever happened between us—”
“We’re not pretending,” she interjects with a huff. “Nothing happened.”
My jaw tics, fury burning in my gut. We both know something happened—something so much more than just physical. The same way I know she’s still feeling our connection now. But I’ve got a good thing going with Cat. I’m not going to blow that up for someone who doesn’t want me. I came here wanting confirmation I was doing the right thing, and I got it.
“Right.” She narrows her eyes at the sarcasm in my tone, but I continue as if I hadn’t noticed. “And since there’s no weirdness between us, does that mean we can be friends?”
She groans, turning to open her car door before answering. “I’m not in the market for a new friend. Thanks, though.”
She throws her bag in the car and climbs inside, attempting to close the driver’s side door. I reach out to hold it open, bending down so I’m eye level with her.
“That’s too damn bad because you’ve got one anyway.”
She narrows her eyes as I stand again, pushing her door closed without another word. As I watch her pull away, the heaviness on my chest increases.
Friends? Why the hell did I say that? I think a part of me believed she would protest the idea, giving away her real feelings. But she remained cold and indifferent. The only thing it proved was how screwed I am.
7
Lori
Five Months Ago
The fluorescent light above me buzzes as I poke at my salad, wishing it was a big juicy cheeseburger instead. The tiny room with the white cinderblock wall feels as if it’s closing in around me, my chair rocking back and forth on its uneven legs.
“I had an inappropriate dream about another man last night.”
Pausing mid-bite, my ears perk up to eavesdrop on my co-worker’s lunch conversation. Normally, you wouldn’t catch me eating in this piss poor excuse of a breakroom, but I’ve spent the last several weeks trying to refocus on my work. That means shorter lunch breaks, which means no time to go anywhere else. The conversations that take place in this room are usually pretty mundane, since it isn’t exactly a very private space. So, when Lucy Seymore—A.K.A. Judgey Judy—busts out something juicy like this, I can’t be expected not to listen in.
Lucy earned her nickname only a few months after I started working at the paper. The way she looked at me, lip snarled and eyes squinted, made it clear from the start what she thought about me. But one day I had the pleasure of witnessing her comments about me firsthand. She was sitting at her cubicle gossiping, completely unaware I was only a few desks down on the other side of that partition.
She was sharing her theory of how I’d gotten the job, completely convinced Paul was the only reason I was hired. He had, of course, helped me get in the door, but she had no clue about his motive behind it—no idea it was nothing to be jealous over.
