Page 2 of Hard to Pretend

“You haven’t told them the most exciting part,” Holden reminded him. Jonas and I looked expectantly at Eli, but it was Holden that delivered the news. “They want him to assist the foreman.”

“Wait, what?” Jonas asked, jaw dropping.

Eli had always been the most ambitious out of all of us. He dreamed of starting his own company one day. He’d gotten a business degree at the local community college and began working at the construction company at the same time to gain real life experience.

This was the kind of experience he wanted to get. I was surprised he hadn’t told us yet. I was really surprised he hadn’t blown up the chat with it.

“I wanted to tell you guys in person,” he said with a shrug. “All at once, but Big Mouth here,” he nudged Holden, who didn’t look even the slightest bit ashamed, “had to tell you before I got a chance. Now I have to tell Matt when he gets back.”

“Tell Matt what?” Matt asked as he slid back into the booth next to me, putting fresh bottles of beer in the middle of the table.

“I’m going to be assisting the foreman on my new job site,” Eli told him before Holden could break the news. “I was going to tell you all at once, but Holden has a big mouth.”

“Holden has always had a big mouth,” Matt said affectionately. “It’s one of the reasons we love him.”

“Speak for yourself,” Eli teased. No one believed that Eli would change a thing about Holden if given the chance. “Anyway, my manager thinks it’ll be a good step toward giving me more leadership roles in the future.”

Matt smiled. “That’s great!”

Eli couldn’t disguise the pride on his face or in his voice as he talked a little more about his job. I wished I could say that I’d paid perfect attention, but honestly, hearing Eli talk about how amazing his job was going made me kind of jealous. He was making forward steps in his career. All of my friends were moving forward in their careers. Meanwhile, I was still toiling away in a job I hated, waiting for the higher ups to give me the nod and let meusethe marketing degree I’d worked so hard for.

At least I could feign interest.

The conversation shifted several more times and another round was bought before a stranger approached the table.

He was handsome: dark skin that glistened with sweat from dancing and an inviting smile. I watched Eli and Matt exchange glances before we all turned to look at the man.

“Hey,” he greeted, that smile growing impossibly bigger and warmer. He reminded me of a teddy bear. If I were in a different mood, I might have wanted to take him home to snuggle.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked in a voice just as warm as his smile. I waited for whoever he was talking to to answer before I realized the question was directed at me.

Jonas nudged me in the ribs, and I nodded. After one dance, the man’s intentions became clear. I suddenly hated my bad mood, because he was attractive and he seemed nice. I just wasn’t interested.

I let him down easy and returned to the table. Four pairs of shocked eyes were trained on me as I slid back in the booth.

“Okay, there’s no way you struck out on that,” Eli finally said, breaking the silence.

“I wasn’t in the mood.”

Eli reached across the table and placed the back of his hand on my forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever…”

I batted his hand away and glared at him. “I’m allowed to not be in the mood, Eli.”

Matt glanced at me, concern written all over his face. God, could a man just not want a one night stand anymore without everyone breaking into dramatics?

Jonas reached over and squeezed my arm.

His touch grounded me the way I know Matt’s look was trying to do. But it was different with Jonas than it was anyone else. He’d been my first best friend. He’d been through all of my moods since preschool.

“Everything okay?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. Matt’s expression grew more concerned. “I’m just in a mood. I mean, maybe it’s not a mood. I just…” I trailed off.

“Try to explain it?” Holden suggested, leaning across the table.

I drew in a deep breath. “I think I’m just tired of one night stands for a bit.”

“Couldn’t be me,” Eli joked. Holden elbowed him in the ribs. “What?”

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