Page 10 of It's Complicated

My head was already in a weird place, and drinking would only make it worse.

“Why do you look like you’re picturing someone’s death?”

I glanced at Asa over the rim of my glass as I took a sip of the soda I’d been nursing.

“Am I wrong?” he asked knowingly.

“Yes.” I put my glass down.

“No, I’m not.” He grinned.

“You’re annoyingly observant,” I grumbled.

He grinned wider.

“Shut up.”

“So grumpy tonight.” He clucked his tongue. “And here I thought I was the downer of the group. You’re stealing my thunder.”

I chuckled, some of my bad mood lifting.

Asa and I had started working at Legacy Mechanics three years ago and had been friends ever since. A lot of people didn’t really get Asa and wrote him off as a buzzkill because of his stoic nature, but that was because they didn’t know him.

Once he was comfortable with you, Asa was silly and funny and weird, but in a restrained way. He was also one of the most observant people I’d ever met, and one of the smartest.

“It’s nothing.” I shrugged, cutting my gaze around the crowded bar. “Just a weird night.”

“Uh huh,” he said, his expression dubious.

“It’s nothing,” I repeated, my gaze catching on Jamie and the cute redhead he was talking to.

He’d gone to get another pitcher for the table but had gotten sidelined by the chick who was currently hanging off him.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably as she laughed and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. He said something else, and she smiled up at him, putting one hand on his arm and sidling closer.

Jamie grinned, turning on his million-watt smile.

One of Jamie’s best features was his smile. It was wide and bright and genuine, and it gave him an air of approachability that drew people to him. He knew how to use it too, and for some reason, seeing him smile at her the same way he smiled at every girl he flirted with bothered me.

The girl shifted closer and ran her hand up his arm, then curled it over his bicep like she was testing his muscles.

The churning in my stomach got worse as Jamie flexed for her, showing off his toned arms and letting her grope him.

“You might want to take a look at your pants,” Asa said.

“What?” I shook my head and returned my attention to him. “Pants?”

“Yeah.” Asa’s face was the picture of innocence. “Because I think they might be smoldering.”

“Smoldering?” I blinked a few times, trying to pick up the thread of conversation. “Oh, like they’re on fire because I’m lying?”

“All I’m saying is that whatever you’ve got going on there”—he waved at my face—“isn’t giving off ‘it’s nothing’ vibes.”

“It’s…complicated,” I said lamely.

“Sure it is.” Asa studied me for a moment.

“It is,” I insisted. “But it’s really nothing. Just a weird moment.”

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