Page 40 of For Emery

“Woah, no need to get defensive,” Jordan said, which just made me more defensive. “No one faults you if you like him.”

“I don’t like him,” I huffed.

“You spend an awful lot of time with someone you don’t like,” Raquel said as she stepped into her thong and pulled it up her legs and under her towel.

Did she have no shame?

“You hang out with him too,” I said to her before glaring at Jordan. “And why are you even here?”

“Just wanted to hang out with my best friend.”

I tipped my head to the side. “Doing what?”

“We could do what we used to do.” His eyes slid to my bed and his mouth pulled up in one corner.

“And what’s that?” Raquel asked.

“Playing football. Swimming in the creek. You know. Kids’ stuff,” I explained.

“Or we could watch a movie,” Jordan said, stifling a smile.

I stood there, pondering his motives. Did he really believe we could go back to being best friends that easily?

“If you won’t, I will,” Raquel said to me.

I glanced to her. Was she trying to help? Or would she really watch a movie with him with me right there? I looked back to Jordan. “Fine.”

“Oh, shoot. I just remembered I promised to help Kate with something down the hall,” Raquel said.

I suppressed a smile knowing she didn’t know a Kate down the hall.

She tugged open a few drawers and grabbed some clothes, clutching them to her stomach as she moved to the door. “I’ll change there.” And with that she slipped out of the room, closing us off to the outside world.

Suddenly, the room felt tight. Any way I moved, Jordan was in my space. His just-showered scent quickly replaced the scent of Raquel’s shampoo. And I had no idea what to do with myself. I lowered myself down onto the edge of my bed and waited for him to say something.

“Well, this is awkward.”

Nervous laughter burst out of me. “No more awkward than Raquel getting dressed in front of you.”

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said.

My lips formed a tight line as I tried to ignore the hollow in my chest.

“I haven’t seen her like that,” he explained. “I just meant. You know what I meant.”

I nodded, though I couldn’t stop the bout of sadness from washing over me. It wasn’t like I thought he’d stay a virgin forever. I just hated the thought of him in bed with anyone but me. That was our thing—the closeness I always felt in his arms. I knew it was foolish after all this time, but I wanted that reserved solely for me. I glanced down at my cutoffs and T-shirt. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not changing.”

“Good. You look perfect.”

I refrained from sighing because I was pretty sure he had an arsenal of lines like that for whichever girl would listen. “What do you wanna watch?”

“I’m guessing porn is outta the question?”

I rolled my eyes.

“How about a good horror movie so you need me to protect you?”

“Are you ever serious?”

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