Page 41 of Forever Wild

He looks confused for a second before recognition flashes across his face.

“Oh, hey, Izzy. Fancy seeing you here,” I drawl, stopping in front of my sister and our friend, who are attempting to look casual at the bar.

Izzy’s cheeks burn as she pulls an innocent smile. “Oh! Hey! Hi, Jameson. Good to see you. So funny running into you guys.”

He mirrors the little wave she gave him. “Hey, Izzy…and Becca, right?” Jameson waves awkwardly at Becca.

She, unexpectedly, returns his greeting with a glare. “Yup, Becca.”

Well, that was…cold. I look between the two of them, confused, but clearly neither has any plans to say anything else.

“Okaaaay. Well, just wanted to make sure you both got a behind-the-scenes look at our date, since it is certainly not a coincidence you’re here.”

Izzy tries to look confused but gives up. “I was getting play-by-play updates about it, anyway! At least now I’m here, my phone has stopped blowing up with details about what you’re wearing, what you ordered, and the town’s take on how interested each of you is in each other.”

Jameson seems to choke. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Ugh. This town.” I grab his hand and start pulling him away, but he stops me with ease, hauling us back toward my sister.

“What’s the verdict?” he asks her gruffly.

“Huh?” Iz and I both reply at the same time.

Jameo looks directly at my sister. “How interested is she in me?”

Izzy’s laugh booms across the bar, Becca’s lighter laugh joining hers as both women throw their heads back in glee. For Jameson’s sake, I hope this doesn’t work out between us. He will never, ever live that question down.

Unfortunately, Jameson doesn’t seem to find it as funny as the rest of us do. He’s growing noticeably more irritated as Izzy and Becca continue laughing, his hand growing tighter on mine.

After what feels like days, Izzy finally gets herself under control. “I can’t believe you asked that. You know normal people would just wonder about it but never actually ask, right?”

I’m going to kill my sister. I will murder her and bury her in the middle of a cow pasture where no one will ever find her body.

Jameson clenches his jaw. “Yeah, well, I’ve learned external people can sometimes have more clarity into this type of thing.”

I’m not sure how to feel about that. I mean, I’m not saying it’s untrue, but it feels like he’s really focusing on the wrong thing here. I told him the town would talk about us. Who cares what they think about our date? I mean, was he not having as good of a time as I was? He sure seemed like he was enjoying it.

Izzy looks back and forth between us, trying to figure out what to do. I just shrug my shoulders—she got herself into this mess.

Surprisingly, Becca breaks the silence by saying, “You really know how to make friends and win people over, don’t you, Jameson?”

I’m 100% asking him why Becca seems to hate him when we get outside. She rarely has one unkind thing to say to people, and she’s already been bitchy to him twice. It is basically unheard of for her.

He looks at her and shrugs, his dark eyebrow rising in challenge. Dick, the guy I met at the course, seems to be making an appearance for the first time since that fateful day.

I pull on his arm, trying to get him to leave with me as I say, “Okay, well, this has been…fucking awkward, but we’ve got to go—”

“No.” He looks at me. “I’d like to hear what this town thinks about us.”

I look up at him. At his expressionless face. How did our date turn into this? “Why? Why would you possibly care what the town thinks of us? Why would you want Izzy to tell you what these random people think instead of just asking me how I feel about you?” I glance back at my sister, silently promising death with my eyes.

He grunts out something that sounds a lot like “Just do” as his hand tightens on mine.

What an absolute dumpster fire.

I turn toward my sister, who is still watching us, though Becca has turned her attention to the TV above the bar.

“Okaaay. Can you tell him what they said, Iz?” I ask.

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