Page 53 of It's Complicated

“I won’t be too long,” he promised, then turned on his heel and headed toward his room.

I tore my eyes from his ass and hurried into the kitchen, trying not to get too excited at the prospect of spending the entire evening cuddling and watching movies with my best friend.

11

JAMIE

“Jamester,”someone called from behind me, using one of the many nicknames I’d had over the years.

“Hey, Andy,” I greeted as he sauntered up to where I stood.

“What’s up, J-Dog?” Another of my old teammates, Johnny, asked, coming up behind Andy and slapping him on the back hard enough that Andy spilled some of his drink. “Andrew.”

“Asshole.” Andy tossed Johnny a look and wiped the spilled beer off his shirt.

“Where’s your boy?” Johnny asked, his head swiveling as he looked around the room. “Are you here alone? Holy shit, someone call the authorities and report a kidnapping.”

“He’s grabbing drinks,” I said. “We just got here.”

Andy elbowed Johnny, who was currently using his shoulder as an armrest while he scoped the room. “Do you have any concept of personal space?”

“Nope.” Johnny gave him a little hip check and draped his arm over both Andy’s shoulders. “You’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

Andy rolled his eyes but didn’t make a move to step away or shake Johnny off. He was used to Johnny’s antics. We all were.

“So, what’s new?” Johnny asked me.

I was saved from having to answer as Isaac came up to us, two drinks in his hands.

“Here.” He handed me one of the cups.

“Thanks.”

I wasn’t really in party mode, not yet, at least. I’d spent the past two nights, ever since that disastrous staff meeting, moping around the apartment, but I was done feeling sorry for myself and worrying about things I couldn’t control.

Isaac had suggested we skip the party and have another chill night at home. I’d been tempted to agree, and not just because I wasn’t feeling social.

Ultimately, we’d decided to stop by for a bit. Hopefully hanging out with my old friends from high school would help me get out of my funk.

We’d only been here for about five minutes, but I was already looking forward to when we could leave.

The party was exactly the same as every other one we’d been to in the last few years, and I wasn’t feeling it.

Maybe it was because I was still salty about the shit going on at work. We hadn’t been told anything about the review or when the first round of layoffs would happen, which was a shitty way to go into the weekend.

Isaac had been his usual amazing self, giving me lots of space to be a grump and reassuring me in his own way that everything would be fine.

I hated that I might have to rely on him again, but I couldn’t deny that having him as a safety net was the only thing keeping me from a full freak-out.

I didn’t like taking things from people and hated having to rely on anyone. And Isaac wasn’t just anyone. It didn’t matter that he could easily afford it. I wanted to be an equal partner in our friendship, and it was hard to do that when he kept having tobail my ass out or front me some cash so I didn’t end up destitute because I kept getting laid off and couldn’t find a stable job.

“I was just asking J-Dog what’s new,” Johnny said to Isaac. He flicked his gaze to me. “What’s new?” he asked again.

“Not a whole lot,” I lied. “Same shit, different day.”

Other than my crisis at work, a lot was new in my life. Including the fact that Isaac hadn’t just taken care of cooking for the past few nights, we’d also spent the evenings cuddling while we watched movies together.

I’d never really cuddled with anyone before, not when there wasn’t any sex involved. I hadn’t realized what I’d been missing.

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