Page 56 of Burn Point

I swallowed thickly. “Of course it matters. How about this? You just tell me what your plan was, and I’ll shut up and color.”

She laughed a little. “Honestly, I don’t have a problem staying at your place. I don’t want to be a problem for you and get in your way.”

Gripping the back of my neck, I studied my shoes. I needed to come clean with Jordan and tell her how much I missed her and wanted her around. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told her yet. Maybe because it was safer for me if she kept things platonic. Which was such a pussy thing to think, especially when I was the one rubbing one out every night to the memory of her.

“So, uh. That’s not really an issue that you need to worry about.”

“Of course it is, Nate.” Her voice was low and concerned and struck a nerve somewhere deep within me.

“No, it’s not. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of you being around,” I admitted.

I heard a rustle through the phone and her voice went soft. “Did I ever tell you about Gerry?”

I stretched out on my bed, bracing my head on my arm. Did I want to hear about her ex? Not really. But then again, I wanted to know everything about her. “No, we never talked about him.”

“I guess we never talked about relationships. But anyway. Gerry and I had been together for a couple of years. We were living the dream, planning on getting married. Then one day, I came home from work unexpectedly and found him in bed with another woman.”

“Damn.” What kind of fool would cheat on Jordan? “What’d you do?”

“Oh, what any irrational woman does. But that isn’t the important part. I’ve been thinking while I’ve been on this trip. About why he felt like he needed to do that.”

“And?”

“And I thought about calling him to get some closure on it.”

“That sounds like a very mature thing to do,” I said, unable to bite back the snark.

“I can’t move forward until I sort this out.”

“See, this is the difference between men and women. You guys need to process and have closure. I’d have made a decision and moved on. You don’t need him, even the memory of him. He was a fool, and you should just let it go.”

Jordan sighed in frustration. “Okay, you go on doing your manly man thing and bury everything. Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to emotionally evolve. But whatever. You do you.”

Her frustration with me didn’t settle well. I cleared my throat and dropped my hand to make sure my nuts were still intact.

“Are you pissed at me?”

Laughter filled my ear. “No, Nate. You just keep on living your life the way you want and continue ignoring everything.”

“I’m sensing some sarcasm here.”

“Look at you, being all smart. Picking up on clues and stuff. Listen. I’m tired and this conversation is just going to lead nowhere. I’ll let you go, talk to you tomorrow.” And with that, she hung up on me.

As I pulled my phone away to confirm that she really did hang up on me, Thoren popped his head around the corner.

“Everything okay?” His brows lifted at my expression.

“No. She hung up on me.”

“What did you do?” He braced a shoulder on the doorframe.

“We were talking about her ex, and then she essentially told me off, and hung up on me.”

Thoren’s brow creased. “Well? Were you rude?”

I sat up, bracing my elbows on my knees, and hung my head. “Not really. I think I got a little pissed off when she mentioned talking to her ex.”

“Are you jealous?”

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