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“I’ll be right back,” she shouts. Her voice cracks as though she’s a blink away from crying, and it genuinely reads like Juliette is more upset about the food than she could be upset with me.
Shane stays with us, but he falls onto his back and stares into the dark sky.
I raise an eyebrow at Jace, silently asking, “What was that?”
“Juliette is pregnant,” he explains and chomps a veggie burger whole.
“Congratulations,” I say to Shane, then continue with Jace, “but I don’t get it. I’m sorry. I don’t ever hang out with people with kids, and I don’t have any siblings.”
Shane sits up. “Apparently, women can experience a magical time throughout pregnancy by going through vomiting, sleeplessness, sleepiness, swelling, bad skin, good skin, cravings, increased appetite, decreased appetite, and bonus round—severe aversion to every edible substance known to man. Juliette hasn't been able to stomach most food for several weeks now.”
“In other words,” Jace adds, “it doesn’t take a lot to irk her. Just show her a sandwich.”
Both Jace and Shane laugh at that, then glare at each other, then punch each other in the shoulders and spit, “Stop it,” in their opponent’s face.
I can’t believe their dynamic. Jace, Shane, and Juliette act like friends when by all laws of nature they can’t be. They shouldn’t be. This is not healthy.
“So, Laurel.” Shane turns to me like he hasn’t just helped destroy a small piece of my sanity. “You haven’t given me a response officially, but dare I hope, based on your outfit, that I can count you in for the Venom Guitars launch?”
“My outfit?”
Whistling, Jace studies something over his shoulder. Okay… I examine my clothes and bristle up, understanding why he was telling me to take his hoodie off. The reasons have nothing to do with the cleanliness or what me wearing his clothes would look like. A blazing-white Venom Guitars logo is printed on the side. How stupid, or more like how distracted have I been this whole evening to not notice it?
“You could’ve said something!” I yank the hoodie over my head, lump it up, and throw it at Jace’s face.
He catches it, laughing. “You can’t say I didn’t try.”
“I can and I will!” I throw a toothpick at him next.
Shane scoots away a foot or two, but Jace keeps laughing. “I told you before. Start doing kung fu. It really helps with the temper.”
“I guess this is a no?” Shane asks.
“Sorry.” I could die on the spot from embarrassment. “I promise, I’m flattered by the offer, but—” My brain shifts gears without warning, and my next words not only send Shane and Jace blinking, but throw me for a wild loop as well. “How much would you pay me, by the way?” Me, the failure, on the posters. On website banners. On Insta ads and Tube videos. I’d tank his brand before he had a chance to sell his first guitar. That, actually, makes me want to say yes to Shane’s offer. He deserves flopping.
He sits closer. “May I contact your agent for a quick meeting?”
“No.” Jace points a warning finger at me, then at his business partner. “Back off.”
“I’m going to find Juliette.” Shane leaves his food. And us.
“Well, you didn’t show your hand to him.” I crunch on a yogurt-covered almond. “At all.”
“And you didn’t—” Jace clenches his jaw and looks away. He doesn’t need to finish that sentence. I know what he’s accusing me of.
“Here’s what I need you to understand,” he says, each syllable dripping with ice. “No one, and let me make it as clear as possible,no onegets between me and Juliette. What we are—friends, fake siblings, kung fu partners, almost lovers—is no one’s business. She will always be in my life. If you can’t accept it—”
“I understand. Don’t continue.” I yank the hoodie away from him—it’s too cold. “May I have this anyway, or do you want it?”
Jace shakes his head. I turn the blasted item of clothing inside out and put it on again. There. No more brand representation.
Not half an hour ago, I was on the brink of thinking I’m in love with him. That he could be developing more serious feelings for me. But now, after he’s jumped to defend Juliette with such iron in his voice? He claims he’s over her, but is he?
He was honest with me. He wanted others to see him with me and think he no longer loves her. I was okay with that plan. But it’s not enough anymore.
We eat a few more bites without saying a word. The temptation to extricate myself from the mountain of tension that sits between us becomes almost unbearable, but I stay. I will not surrender. It was wrong of me to call out Juliette like that. I didn’t mean to run any cracks in his relationship with her, but also… I want to drive her away so that she’ll leave him alone and let him heal. Jace doesn’t see it that way, so there’s nothing I can do apart from antagonizing him with my disapproval of the situation. I fidget and fidget, trying to find a comfortable position on the blanket, full to the brim of conflicting desires to soothe him and fight with him. I want to smack him and hug him and ugh… In the end, I stretch out on my back and eat as I glare at the stars. Jace drives me crazy. Crazy!
I sit up and open my mouth to yell as much at him, but someone strikes a thunderous, electrifying note on a bass. Jace’s head snaps toward the house. The rest of his bandmates have assembled on the patio. The DJ has moved her equipment to the side, and now there are amps and a drum kit and everything familiar.
