Page 99 of It's Complicated

And it would distract me from everything else I had to think about and give my brain a break.

Dick pics for the win.

17

JAMIE

“Arewe meeting up with Andy tonight?” I asked Isaac as he came into the living room.

It was Friday night, and we’d made plans to go out and do something but hadn’t nailed down exactly what we wanted to do.

Andy had texted earlier that day to see if we wanted to hit the club with him and the guys, but I wasn’t really feeling clubbing tonight. Hopefully Isaac wasn’t either.

“Andy?” he asked, blinking at me like I’d startled him out of some sort of daze.

“What’s wrong?” I sat up and looked at him more carefully. Something was up with him. His cheeks were flushed and his posture was stiff, like he was on high alert and waiting for someone to attack him.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He flashed me a smile. “Sorry, you were asking about Andy?”

“Are we meeting up with him and the guys tonight?” I wiggled my phone. “He said they’re hitting Prism later.”

“How about we go for a drink, just us?” he suggested. “I’m not really in the mood to go clubbing or deal with whatever craziness ensues.”

“Honestly, I’m not either. A drink sounds good.” I opened my texts to let Andy know we’d meet up with him another time.

When I was done, I slipped my phone in my pocket and stood. “Ready to go?”

Isaac nodded and motioned to the door. “Lead the way.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “You seem off.”

“All good,” he assured me. “Where do you want to go?”

“Not sure.” I held the door open for him. “We could hit Mac’s,” I said, mentioning a nearby bar we usually went to when we wanted a break from the clubs or parties. “Or try somewhere new.”

“How about we try somewhere new?” He locked the door behind us. “Jesse told me about this bar he and Bas like to go to. He said it’s got a chill vibe, and they have live music most nights. Could be fun.”

“That sounds good. Is it close?” I asked as we headed to the stairs.

“Not too far. I’ll drive.”

I snuck a glance at Isaac as we walked down the stairs. He was so tense his gait was stiff, and he was having trouble keeping eye contact with me.

Something was wrong, but I didn’t want to badger him if he said he was fine. That was the best way to get him to clam up and make everything worse.

Hopefully whatever was going on would get better once we were out and having some fun.

“Do you recognize this song?” I asked Isaac, leaning close so he could hear me over the band.

He shook his head. “I think it’s supposed to be Billy Joel?”

“Really? Because I was thinking Neil Diamond.”

Isaac lifted his drink and snickered. “We’re definitely not the target audience for this group.”

He wasn’t wrong. The bar was filled with a mostly older crowd. I’d only recognized a handful of the songs the band had played so far, and those had been old classics my parents used to play when I was a kid.

The music might not be our usual fare, but the vibe was chill, and it was fun to try something different.

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