Page 60 of I'd Never Date my Brother's Best Friend

“Umm…” Jessica clears her throat. “We went to the car, and he held the door open for me. He then took me to The Loft.”

“The Loft?” Evelyn gasps. “I’ve never been. I heard the entry is exclusive. Ricky-boy must be influential.”

“It’s not that serious,” I answer, scowling at Evelyn. What is wrong with Evie today? Why is she on Mr-I-Brought-You-To-A-Fancy-Restaurant's side? “You just have to make reservations. It doesn’t require that much to get a table.”

“Sean.” Jessica’s voice cuts through my skin, scalding me. “What’s up with you? You seem to be discrediting everything Rick did.”

“What?” I glance over with what I hope is an innocent expression. “Why would you say that?”

Jessica looks to Evelyn for support. “Isn’t that what he’s doing, Evie? When I mentioned the flowers and now the restaurant he was definitely critical.”

“What business do I have with Rick?” I ask. “All I care about is you, okay?”

When she narrows her eyes, I shrug. “What? I want to make sure you get the absolute best and that he’s able to deliver it. Bringing you flowers and taking you to fancy restaurants are the bare minimum. I don’t want you getting too excited about low hanging fruit.”

Jessica sighs. “Okay, Sean. But I was excited. He’s a great guy, and it’s okay for me to be excited about him.”

There’s a retort at the tip of my tongue, but the only reason I don’t say it is because her words wound me. When I stay silent, Jessica thinks she’s gotten her point across, so she continues. “He was a bit shy,” she says with a fond smile. “But it was cute. He never went out of line. When it was almost ten, he took me straight home.”

“Did you invite him in?”

I hold my breath because this is the part of her story I’ve been wanting to know. I saw Rick walk her to her door, and he stayed there for what seemed like forever. It drove me insane not knowing what they were doing. Did she invite him in? Did they kiss? Did they do more than that? I mean, they’re both adults, but dang it!

“I didn’t invite him in. I was tired and had to write some chapters before bed.”

I sigh in relief, but Evelyn's next question has my blood pressure rising again. “Did you kiss him at the door, though?”

Jessica bursts into a fit of laughter, and I almost reach out to shake the answer out of her. Then they both laugh while I sit there, slowly turning into stone. Eventually, Jessica shakes her head. “No. I didn’t kiss him.”

“Bummer,” Evelyn sounds disappointed. “I wish you did. Sometimes, a man might have all the perfect traits and be a bad kisser. You don’t want to be with a bad kisser.”

“I know what you mean,” Jessica giggles. “Once I’m finished with my book I’ll see him again. I’ll definitely consider testing out his kissing skills then.”

“Yeah, and you’ll come off easy,” I blurt.

“Excuse me?” Jessica frowns. “What did you just say?”

“Kissing him too soon could make him think you’re easy,” I tell her, hating how I sound but unable to stop myself. “You want to make him pursue you.”

“Sean, we’re adults, okay?” She says, like I’m a child. “There’s no such thing as making a man chase me. I don’t want to play games.”

“Look.” I sit up. “Men are hardwired to chase, okay? If you don’t give them a reason to pursue you, they’ll get tired and move on to the next girl.”

“Then let him go to the next girl!” Jessica cries. “The whole reason for all of this is because I don’t want to play modern games in the first place. And I don’t think Rick is that kind of man.” She slides a conspiratorial wink at Evelyn. “He seems very old-fashioned. Flowers, opening the doors, and bringing me to a nice restaurant.”

“He may just be that, but if you kiss him too soon he could lose interest. If you make him work for it, your chances of getting him to commit are much higher.”

“Why do you care one way or the other?” Jessica glares. “If I move slow and keep him interested for a long time, there’s still the probability of him losing interest. So why the games?”

“You don’t understand—” I argue. “Men are—”

“Sean, you’re acting weird,” Evelyn says. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I swallow back bile, hating how my feelings are putting me in strange positions. Evelyn is right; I’m acting weird. This isn’t me.

“You know what,” I say flatly. “You’re right. I don’t really care; she can do whatever she likes. It’s her life.”

Chapter 23

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